


Second Self

by disseria



Series: Second Self [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - College/University, Artist Derek, Breaking and Entering, Choking, Crossdressing, F/M, Gen, Kidnapped Stiles, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Character Death, Parasites, Science Fiction, hiding in the walls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-04-04 18:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 98,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4148082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disseria/pseuds/disseria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was just a kiss. Derek had been trying for months to work up the courage to tell Stiles how he felt. But instead, he just kissed him. And luckily, Stiles kissed him back.</p><p>There was no way they could have known that someone was watching, no way for them to know that the kiss would throw them into the middle of a secret war being waged against the people of Earth by an ancient alien race. Now, they are running for their lives, and the only thing standing between the planet Earth and utter annihilation, is their love for each other and for their friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Move Day

**Author's Note:**

> A new chapter every week!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott and Derek meet each other when they move into campus housing, not realizing that tiny invisible beings are already living there.

Erica looked down from the ceiling of the living room. The others were quiet today. They had been quiet for almost two years now, and the only thing that would pull them from their stupor would be new students moving into the house. She didn’t blame them; each group seemed less promising than the last and they were beginning to lose hope. Erica, being the youngest, had not lost hope yet and she knew today was move day. So, she waited.

Scott lifted the large cardboard box up the three steps to the front door of the house. It was a small three-bedroom, old-looking but well kept. The white paint on the siding was starting to chip and peel along the edges and there was a green cast to the roof, but none of that bothered him. He was the first one in his family to go to college and the surge of pride that rushed through his body overshadowed the faintly musty odor that greeted him as he wrestled open the door.

He set the box down on the counter, running his fingers through his short, curly black hair and scratching the back of his head as he looked around. The tiny motes of dust drifting through the beams of sunlight held him spellbound until a sudden revelation snapped him out of it. This was going to be his home for the next four years! He took a deep breath, released a slow and contented sigh, and smiled.

It looked like he was the first one there. His two roommates would be arriving at any moment. _Sweet!_ he thought. _Dibs on the best room!_ He ran outside to grab the rest of his stuff.

Erica watched the boy bolt from the house and mused to herself. It was too early to tell what kind of person he was, but she could feel the air of confidence about him. It wasn’t arrogance; he was just sure of himself, sure of his ability and experience. He showed promise, even if she had only observed him for all of half a minute. She could feel one of the others stirring, but she couldn’t tell which one. She hoped they would stay awake longer this time. Two years was a long time to be by yourself.

Scott rushed back through the door with a backpack slung over his right shoulder and a suitcase in his left hand. He took the stairs two at a time and opened the first door. It was a closet. The second door was the bathroom and the third door revealed a bedroom. It was small: twin bed, closet, desk, drawers, window.

He found the next bedroom, which was pretty much the same as first, except the walls were white instead of beige and there were two windows instead of one. The room behind the last door was the master bedroom, no larger than the others, but it had its own small bathroom. Scott set his backpack down on the bed and the suitcase on the floor. 

He flicked the bathroom light on. Like the rest of the house, it looked old but clean. The medicine cabinet squeaked as he pulled it open and he thought he saw the draft from the cabinet door stir up a tiny swirl of dust in one of the back corners. He ran his finger over the surface of the shelf, but his finger came away clean. Raising his eyebrows, he shrugged. His thoughts drifted back to his car and all that he had left to unpack, so he made his way back down the stairs.

Erica felt a presence beside her. It was John. John was disoriented and she could sense slightly grumpy.

“He woke me up,” John said in his usual gruff manor. Erica giggled. John liked to sleep in the master bath medicine cabinet; she could never figure out why. The boy must have chosen the master bedroom for himself. They both watched as he made his way past with another large box in his arms. John didn’t like to talk, not usually anyway. Erica was just happy he was there.

“Hello! Anybody home?” The voice came from the tall boy whose black hair looked like it was held in the shape of a wave through the liberal use of product. He was standing in the doorway, the second of the three boys that would be living in the house. His scruff was almost thick enough to call a beard, and he was obviously a fan of dark muted colors, as evidenced by his black jeans, olive green Henley, and black leather jacket. If Erica had eyes, she would have squinted at him. What exactly was he trying to prove with that getup?

Scott bounced down the stairs and almost ran into the newcomer. He held out his hand, saying, “Hi, are you living here, too?”

Derek tried to school his face into something that wasn’t obviously threatening, and managed to at least not scowl at the boy. His baggy no-name jeans and red Converse shoes were things Derek would never wear, but they weren’t in and of themselves offensive. He was olive-skinned, and had a strangely crooked jawline. He seemed friendly enough.

Derek flashed his slightly predatory smile and firmly grasped the outstretched hand. “Hi, I’m Derek. And yeah, I’m your new roommate.”

“Hi, I’m Scott. I claimed the room at the end of the hall; I hope you don’t mind. It’s not any bigger than the other rooms, but it has its own bathroom.” He paused, not sure of how to continue, finally ending with, “A small one.”

Derek smiled as Scott explained. At least he had the good sense to appear sheepish for grabbing the master bedroom before his roommates had gotten there. He held onto Scott’s hand just long enough to make him uncomfortable, then released it. “That’s fine,” he said, smiling. “So, does that mean I’m sharing a bathroom with the other guy?”

“Yeah,” said Scott, pointing up the stairs. “It’s the second door on the right.”

Derek climbed up the stairs to claim a room for himself.

“Interesting dynamic there,” John commented after they both left the room. If Erica had a head, she would have nodded.


	2. Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott and the gang go about their lives. Erica watches.

It was the only the third day of classes and already Scott had way more homework to do than he thought was possible. He was headed towards the library to get some reading done, having promised himself, like he did at the beginning of every school year, that he was no longer going to procrastinate. Studying at the house during the day was all but impossible with Derek blasting his music all the time. Derek said that the music helped him with his creativity. It hadn’t been so much of a problem the week before school started, but now that Scott had reading to do, it was too much of a distraction. Rather than get into an argument with a guy he’d known for less than two weeks, Scott decided he need to find quiet elsewhere. Besides, he thought, he might actually need to check out some books. 

Catching a mass of midnight curls out of the corner of his eye, he turned to look at the source. He smiled when he saw a beautiful girl lying in the sun, using her backpack as a pillow, her nose in a book. He watched as she reached up to tuck a stray strand behind her ear. The way she moved her delicate fingers took his breath away. Before he realized what he was doing, he was standing beside her, his shadow falling over her face and the book she was trying to read.

“You’re not reading that for class,” he said with a smirk, taking note of the title. It had something to do with vampires.  
She grimaced as she looked up at him and the sunlight coming down from around his head, blinding in its brightness. Her eyes quickly adjusted and she smiled. “There you are! Where are you headed off to?” she asked.

“I’m going to the library to get some reading done,” he said with a sigh. “Derek’s painting again.”

Allison laughed, closing her book. “Music?” she asked.

“Music,” Scott answered.

“It’s so nice out today,” she said, putting her book into her backpack. “Stay with me out here for a while.”

He smiled, and took off his own backpack. “All right, but I can’t stay too long. You would not believe how much reading my econ professor wants us to do for next week.” He put his backpack down on the ground and then lay on his side facing her. “You been out here long?”

“Only about a half hour,” she said, shaking her head. “I needed to get out of that dorm room.”

They both watched the clouds rolling by and the students who were walking around, enjoying the relatively cool day after a long hot summer.

Scott turned his head to look at her. “Your mom wasn’t too happy about you coming here, was she?” he asked, frowning slightly.

Allison rolled her eyes. “She’ll get over it.” She leaned back and tilted her face towards the sun. “She didn’t like the idea that I was following you here. She said it was a mistake. What does she know?”

Scott picked at a blade of grass. “A lot, actually,” he said, looking up at her. “Didn’t she do the same thing when she was your age?”

Allison sighed and laid her head back down on her backpack. “Yeah, believe me, I heard all about it during our senior year when we started talking about going off to college together. I think she was relieved when we both decided to stay and go to junior college first. It gave her more time to try to talk me out of it.” She paused and turned to look at him. “Besides, it’s not like it was only your idea to come here. Beacon Hills offers both of our majors, and it’s a good school. We were lucky to be accepted.”

“I’m glad you’re here,” Scott said, grabbing her hand.

Allison sat up and smiled down at him. “At least your mom was cool with it.”

He laughed and rolled onto his back, looking up at the sky. “Of course she was cool with it. I was going to college! She didn’t care where I went, as long as I did.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “Sometimes I wonder how much of this I did for them, and how much of it’s for me.”

“Are you kidding?” she asked, tousling his hair, snapping him out of his reverie. She laughed as he tried to undo the damage. “You’ve been talking about going off to college since you were in junior high.”

“I know,” he replied, “but it’s just that ever since I was a little kid, my mom would always be talking about it. ‘You need to go to college! I don’t want you to end up like me! You need to study hard so that they’ll accept you and you can graduate and get a good job!’“ He took a deep breath. “I don’t know if the thoughts in my head are his or my own.”

“You are your own person, Scott McCall,” she said. “You always have been. That’s why I fell in love with you.” She leaned over and kissed him.

He grabbed his backpack and stood up. “All right, I gotta go. Are you gonna come by later?”

“Maybe,” she teased, pulling her book back out.

Scott smirked and continued on to the library. Allison watched him until he was out of sight, and then tried to find her place in her book. After reading the same line three times, she realized she was too distracted and put it away again. Now that Scott had brought it up, she couldn’t stop thinking about her mother, the always-proper Victoria Argent. Scott was right. Her mother had gone to college following the boy that was her high school sweetheart. Her story had the predictable ending. The boy changed at college; he wasn’t the same boy she’d thought she had known. They broke up before the end of their first year and her mother came home, never finishing school. She met Allison’s father not too long after that, and she remembered her mother saying on more than one occasion that everything had turned out the way that it was supposed to. Still, it didn’t stop her mother from worrying about her, now.

Allison and Scott had talked a lot about where they would go to school. It was a totally mutual decision. At least, she thought it was. She knew what it looked like from the outside, but Scott had been just as willing to go wherever she wanted to go, if she had ever decided that there was a particular school that she wanted to go to. None of the schools that they looked at really stood out to her in any special kind of way, so she figured she would just let Scott decide. She sighed as she pulled her cell phone out of her purse.

The phone rang twice before someone answered, “Hello?”

“Hi, mom,” she said, smiling. “It’s Allison.”

“Hi, sweetie!” her mother replied. “How’s everything going?”

“Everything’s fine,” she said. “I’m just sitting out in the sun for a bit. Doing some reading.”

“Have you started classes yet?” her mother asked. “Did you buy all your books?”

“Yeah, classes started this week,” Allison said. “I’ve only had two classes so far, though. I have two more tomorrow and then one on Friday. I bought the books for the first two classes, but I still need to get the syllabi for the others before I can buy the books for them.”

“Well, that’s good. How are you settling in? Have you unpacked everything yet?”

“I’m mostly unpacked,” Allison said, stifling a groan. “The room is a little smaller than I thought it would be. I’m not sure where I’m gonna put everything. I guess I don’t have your talent for decorating.”

Her mother laughed on the other end of the line. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. So, how is Scott doing?”

“He’s good. He just left actually. He went to the library to get some homework done.”

“Well, he always was a good student,” she replied. This was the best her mother could do when it came to Scott, right now. She didn’t hate him, at least, Allison didn’t think that she did. She had known him for a large part of his life, and they seemed to get along for the most part. It was just the current situation that she didn’t entirely approve of. 

“I know I don’t have to worry about you,” her mother continued. “You always did take after your father when it came to that school stuff. That was never really my strong suit.”

“So, how is everyone?” Allison asked, quickly changing the subject.

“Your dad’s fine. He in his study right now, working on his sermon for Sunday. Caitlin and Cora are at school. You’re coming home for Cora’s graduation ceremony, right?”

“Mom, school just started, that’s like nine months away!”

“I just want to make sure you keep it in mind. Your school schedules probably don’t match up exactly and I want to make sure that you plan for it.”

“Well, when I come home for Thanksgiving, we can look at our schedules and see when everything is.”

“Speaking of which, you need to make sure you come down early enough so you can help Aunt Carol with the cooking! She’s been wanting to teach you how to cook for a long time. I think you need to make it a point to spend some time with her this year. She’s getting older and she might not have a lot of time left.”

“I know, I know,” Allison conceded. “I promise I’ll try to learn something from her this year. I’m just not that good at cooking, mom.”

“That’s not the point, sweetheart. The point is that you spend time with her. You know how she’s always going on about you girls, you especially ever since you gave her that painting that you did when you were in high school. Trust me, you’ll regret it if you don’t spend more time with her before she’s gone.”

Allison nodded, well aware that her mother could not see her.

“Listen sweetie, I need to get supper started, so I’m gonna let you go. You call if you need anything, okay? I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Allison replied, holding the phone to her ear until the line went dead.

A loud group of girls was walking by, chatting with big animated hand motions and hysterical giggles. There was an olive-skinned girl with long black hair who seemed to be their ringleader. She made eye contact with Allison for the briefest of moments before going back to talking with her friends. They walked past her, all but ignoring her presence.

Allison put the phone back into her purse, then stood up and brushed some bits of grass off her pants. Grabbing her backpack, she slung it over her shoulder and started heading back to her dorm. She’d had enough of the fresh air.

* * *

Derek showed up five minutes late to class. It wasn’t the wisest decision for the first day, but he doubted there would be many people signed up for introductory photography. He was right, there were only a dozen or so people there when he arrived, and they all turned to look at him when he walked through the door.

The professor grabbed the roster and quickly scanned the names. “Derek Hale, I presume?”

“That’s me,” he answered, flashing what he hoped was an authentic looking smile.

“Please take your seat, Mr. Hale. We’re just going over the syllabus.” 

Derek sat down at the back of the class and the professor handed a small stack of papers to a student at the front, who passed it to the student behind him. The packet eventually made its way to Derek. He quickly turned to the syllabus and tried to figure out which part the professor was talking about.

“We’re right here,” the guy sitting next to him said, pointing to one of the dates on the page. “Don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything. He’s literally reading it straight off the page.”

“Thanks,” Derek said, turning his head towards his neighbor. He looked like he was in his early twenties, his lean frame hidden by a gray hooded sweatshirt. A knitted blue and grey beanie was sitting top of his head, a little bit of brown hair poking out from underneath. His pale skinned was dotted with moles. He was looking at Derek through black-framed glasses, his amber eyes sending a shiver down Derek’s spine. 

“No problem,” he said, offering his hand. “I’m Stiles.”

“Stiles?” Derek repeated, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Derek.”

They listened to the professor’s monotone description of the class, but there was little they could do to stop their minds from wandering. After a while, they gave up and started a written conversation on a piece of paper that they discretely slid back and forth over the black tabletop. Derek was able to learn a lot about Stiles during the hour and a half class. He refused to reveal his actual name, only saying that Stiles was a nickname, and that Derek wouldn’t be able to pronounce his real name anyway. He was an art major, like Derek, and he was originally from Kansas, though his family had moved around a lot, which explained his lack of an accent. When the class finally ended, they walked out together. 

“Dude! You are ripped!” Stiles exclaimed, appreciating the way Derek’s shirt clung to his body. “How often do you go to the gym?”

“Enough,” Derek answered, slightly embarrassed.

Stiles laughed. “I can’t stand the gym. Running’s my thing, which explains why I’m so skinny, I guess. What are you like 200 pounds?”

Derek smiled. “Something like that.”

Stiles smiled at him. “What, are you a body-builder or something?”

Derek shrugged. “Not professionally. I just like to work out.”

Stiles poked Derek’s arm. “More than like it, I’d say.” Stiles stuck his hands in his pockets and they walked in silence for a few steps before piping back up again. “So, this group project we’re supposed to do this semester, you wanna work on it together?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Derek replied, smiling broadly. 

“Cool,” Stiles said, nodding. “Hey, what are you doing tonight?”

“I don’t really have anything planned. I was probably just gonna paint. Eat. Why?”

“Well, there’s this new coffee shop that just opened up, Bobby’s, I think. There were some guys passing out flyers all over the school. They’re having some kind of poetry night, or something; I thought it might be cool. You wanna check it out?”

“I don’t know. Poetry?” Derek asked incredulously.

“Oh come on! It’ll be cool! Have you ever gone to a poetry slam? Some of those guys are pretty awesome! If it’s lame, we can leave, I promise.”

Derek sighed, then chuckled. “All right, I’ll go; you talked me into it. What time is this ‘poetry slam’ thing?” he asked, putting quotation marks around the words “poetry slam” with his fingers.

“I think it starts at eight. I have one of the flyers in my room, so I can check. Why don’t we meet in front of the cafeteria at 7:30? We can walk there together.”

“Sounds good,” Derek said, pulling out his cell phone. “Let me get your number, just in case.”

Derek punched the numbers in as Stiles recited each digit. 

“Call me, so I can have your number, too,” Stiles said, pulling out his own cell phone.

Derek hit the call button and Stiles stared down at his phone until it started buzzing. He smiled as he hit the button to end the call. “Gotcha. See ya tonight!” he called back to Derek as he walked away.

He watched as Stiles disappeared around the corner, looked at the ground trying to figure out what had just happened, then shook his head and started walking home. He rubbed his chin as he thought about this new friend of his. Derek tended to be more on the reserved side, but Stiles brought something a little livelier out of him. He was going to have to think about this later.

The campus was quiet as he walked. The sun had just set and he guessed everyone was either in class or done with school for the day. He decided he liked the size of the campus. It only took him a few minutes to walk to most of his classes from the house, but it was big enough to feel like a real university. 

“Hey, Derek!” he heard a woman’s voice calling out to him.

He turned to see a young woman running towards him with a small stack of books in her arms, her long black hair streaming out behind her. It was Scott’s girlfriend.

“Hi,” he said, smiling warmly. “It’s Allison, right?”

“Right, you remembered!” she said, beaming up at him. 

He held out his hands to carry her books and she gladly handed them over. “You coming over to the house?”

“Yeah, Scott’s making dinner tonight. He wanted me, you, and your other roommate…what’s his name again?”

“Jackson,” Derek supplied.

“Right, Jackson! He wanted all of us to come. I guess he wants us all to get to know each other better. You’re gonna be there, right?”

“Oh, shoot!” he exclaimed. “I totally forgot! This guy in my class, he just invited me out to this poetry thing tonight. 

“Oh, that thing at Bobby’s? I think I saw one of the fliers.”

“Yeah, that one.”

“Oh well. There’ll be other dinners, I’m sure. You just get out of class?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yeah. How ‘bout you?”

Allison nodded as well. “Composition and Perspective, one of the intro art classes.”

“Intro to photography,” Derek offered, pointing to himself.

“Oh, wow, I didn’t know you were into that,” Allison replied. “I thought you just did the painting.”

“I like all kinds of art,” he explained. “Painting, photography, ceramics. I like photography because of the instant gratification. All you have to do is push a button.”

“I can understand that,” Allison said, nodding again. “I never got into photography though. Mostly I do watercolor, but with all these classes we have to take, I’m sure I’ll be doing lots of things.”

“Have you ever tried any other medium?” Derek asked.

“A little bit. I did some acrylic, but I never really liked working with that because it dries so fast. Oil is better, but it’s so expensive.”

Derek laughed. “Acrylic does dry fast, but with watercolor, you can’t make any mistakes at all, right? If you do one thing wrong you have to start over, don’t you?”

Allison laughed with him. “I know, right? I don’t know what it is, I guess I’m just used to it? Like, if I’m gonna paint with something opaque, like acrylic or oil, I want to be able to blend the colors on the canvas, and you can’t really do that with acrylic very much. I guess with watercolor, it’s more about layering to get the different shades that you want? I guess I like how you don’t really know how it’s gonna turn out, how you can’t really control it. Watercolor just seems more alive to me than any other medium.”

“Well, you certainly sound like an artist,” Derek said.

Allison smiled. “Thanks, I guess?”

Derek smiled back at her. “You’re welcome.”

They arrived at the house, and Derek reached into his pocket to grab his key. He unlocked the door and they both went inside. Allison grabbed her books back from him.

“Derek and I are here, Scott!” she said. 

“Cool!” Scott yelled back. “I’m still getting some stuff together in the kitchen!”

“I’m gonna go study in Scott’s room for a while. I’ll see you later?”

Derek nodded. “Yeah.”

Allison turned and walked up the stairs, and Derek walked into the kitchen. Scott was in there chopping vegetables on a cutting board on the kitchen table.

“Hey,” he said, pulling up a chair and sitting down.

“Hey,” Scott replied looking up and smiling. “I am making Caldo de Res. My mom used to make it all the time. It’s gonna be so great!” he said, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

“Hey, listen,” Derek began. “I’m really sorry, but I can’t make it tonight. A friend invited me to this poetry thing, and I told him I would go.”

Scott looked like a hurt puppy for all of one second before smiling and waving the apology off. “ Don’t worry about it. We will save some for you. You can try it later.”

“Thanks, man,” Derek said, getting up from his chair. “I can’t wait to taste it.”

Erica watched Derek leave the room, then continued to watch as Scott chopped the vegetables. She was excited about the Estofado de Rez, too.


	3. Great Expectations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melissa wakes up, as activity in the house increases.

Derek held the photograph up to the light. It was a picture of Stiles by the lake, his profile in sharp relief against the out of focus water in the background. Stiles was squinting through his glasses a little in the picture, whether from the wind or because he was trying to see something far from shore, Derek couldn’t remember. It gave Stiles an atypically somber and contemplative expression that Derek found interesting. Derek thought the picture was beautiful.

“I like this one,” he said finally, holding it so Stiles could look at it.

Stiles scowled. “Really? Why?”

Derek shrugged. “I don’t know. ‘Cuz you look so serious, I guess. Plus, it’s like the only picture where you’re not wearing your beanie.”

“I know,” Stiles replied, wrinkling his nose. “You made me take it off.”

Erica got closer to look at the picture. It was black and white. When color photography was first becoming commonplace, she had been excited with the new human technology. But since then, she had come to appreciate black and white photographs again, and usually preferred them to their full-color counterparts.

She drifted back up to the ceiling, where John and her brother Isaac were keeping their distance. Isaac had woken up earlier that day and had been watching the residents of the house intently.

“I like that picture, too,” she said to them, whispering at a level that was far to low for the two young men below them to hear.

Isaac was amused at how invested his sister always became in the lives of the new students that moved in, especially since they were always around for only a relatively short period of time. He supposed it was her youthful optimism.

“So, what are they doing exactly?” he asked.

“It’s for their photography class,” Erica explained. “They were supposed to take pictures of each other and then pick the best ones to present to the rest of the class.”

Derek tossed a small stack to the side, saying, “Well, I can’t use any of these.” Stiles was making some kind of face in each of the pictures. 

Stiles laughed under his breath. 

“Yeah, thanks for wasting all my film,” Derek said, scowling at him.

“Oh, come on!” Stiles protested. “You have lots of pictures to pick from.” 

Stiles picked up the photographs that Derek had set aside and started looking through them. “You know, these are actually pretty good,” he said, smiling. He laughed as he flipped through them, then glanced at all of the pictures still on the table. “Dude, you took a lot of pictures of me,” he said, looking up at Derek. “You took like twice as many pictures of me as I did of you.”

Derek looked away, and concentrated on the pictures laid out on the table. “I just wanted to make sure I had enough pictures for the assignment. Come on, we need to focus,” he said, looking up at Stiles again. “It’s getting late. This is due tomorrow.”

“Well, I’m done,” Stiles said, putting the pictures of himself back down on the table and picking up a different pile. “These are the five I’m gonna show to the class.”

“Gimme those,” Derek said, snatching the pictures out of his hand. He looked through them, his own face peering back at him from their visit to the lake over the weekend. He admired the way Stiles was able to catch the light falling on his face from the slightly overcast sky. Somehow, Stiles had managed to capture on film aspects of Derek’s character that Derek had thought were invisible to the people around him. A bit of haughty arrogance in one picture. A touch of repressed insecurity in another. The burgeoning affection for the boy with the moles behind the camera. 

“These are really good,” he mumbled, handing the pictures back to Stiles, suddenly finding it difficult to maintain eye contact.

Stiles took the pile back from him and smiled. They’d only known each other for a little over a month, and already he felt closer to Derek than almost anyone else in his life. These moments, when Derek would suddenly become self-conscious and shy always amused him.

“So, which pictures have you picked out so far?” he asked, placing the photographs of Derek back on the table.

“So far, just this one,” he said sheepishly, holding up the picture they were discussing earlier.

“Ah ha,” Stiles said, nodding. “The serious face, no hat picture.” He crossed his arms and sighed. “Fine, pick that one if you have to. But, you still need to pick four more.”

Derek put his hands on his hips and narrowed his gaze. “Okay, you are way too distracting right now. I can’t do this with you watching. You need to go so I can finish; you’ll just have to be surprised in class tomorrow.”

Stiles huffed and picked up the five pictures he had chosen of Derek. Looking at the time on his cell phone, he exclaimed, “Wow, I didn't realize how late it was!” He started heading towards the door, saying “Don’t stay up too late, and you better not pick ones that makes me look stupid!”

“That rules out every picture I took!” Derek called back to him.

“Ha ha, very funny!” Stiles said sarcastically from the door. “I mean it! You will be sorry!”

Derek smiled at him as the door closed, then turned back to the pictures. He started by putting all of the pictures of himself into a pile and pushing it to the side. He added a few more reject pictures to the pile of Stiles making faces. That left him with a dozen or so pictures to choose from. He scratched his head, picked one of them up, and then put it back down again. Why was this so hard? All he had to do was pick four more pictures, and it wasn’t like this assignment was a huge part of his grade or anything.

He kept looking at all of the different pictures of Stiles, weighing the pros and cons for each. Truthfully, he liked them all, even the funny face ones. He started to wonder if maybe he should choose one of those for his presentation. He was still staring at the pictures when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and he looked up to see that it was Allison.

“Still at it, huh?” Allison asked.

“Yeah,” Derek said with a sigh. “The assignment’s pretty simple, but I’m having a really hard time picking just five pictures to bring to class.”

Allison looked down at the pictures of Stiles and smiled. “Well, our boy here is certainly photogenic, isn’t he?” she said, looking up at Derek with a smile.

Derek felt his face grow hot. “Yeah, I guess he is.”

“You know,” Allison began, shifting some pictures around, “you could start by picking out pictures you don’t want to bring.”

“That’s what those are,” he said, pointing to the reject pile.

Allison picked them up and quickly looked through them. “I can see why,” she said with a laugh. “Although, I kind of like this one,” she said, holding it up for Derek to see. Stiles was making a face with big eyes and a big toothy grin that made it look like he was really happy and really nervous at the same time.

Derek smiled softly and took the picture from her. “Yeah, I like that one, too,” he said, and then nodded. “Yeah, I’ll bring this one. It’ll probably piss him off, but oh well, it’s his fault for making that face.”

“So, what’s the deal with you two, anyway?” she asked, looking down at the pictures.

“What do you mean?” Derek asked, a little too quickly.

Allison smiled, but kept her head down. “I can tell by looking at these that you like him. Are these the pictures he took of you?” she asked, pointing to the other pile.

Derek nodded nervously.

Allison smiled and nodded slowly as she flipped through them. “Yup, he’s got it just as bad.” She looked up and saw that Derek was staring back at her like she had just told him her parents were aliens.

“Look, it’s not a big deal,” she said, putting the pile of pictures down. “He likes you, you like him, what’s the problem?”

“I don’t know,” Derek admitted, his shoulders slumping. “I just haven’t known him for that long, and I like him a lot, which I guess is obvious. I just don’t want to ruin it.”

Allison sighed and shook her head. “Well, first thing’s first. How many of these things do you need?”

“Five,” Derek answered.

“And, how many have you picked out so far?” she pressed.

“Two,” Derek replied in a defeated tone.

“All right, here we go. One, two, three!” she said, picking up a picture at the count of each number. “Done!” she exclaimed, holding out the pictures for him to take.

“Are you sure?” Derek asked, raising one eyebrow in concern.

“Yup!” she said, heading towards the door. “Now go to bed! And, remember what I told you!”

He looked at the pictures she chose and heard the door shut. Looking up, he saw that he was alone again. Before he could change his mind, he scooped all of the remaining pictures into a pile and turned them face down, then spread out the five that he was supposedly bringing to class tomorrow. Two of the pictures Allison had chosen were close-ups, one with Stiles looking straight at the camera and one of him looking off to the side. The last one was of Stiles laughing. Derek smiled and let out a melancholy sigh. He would be perfectly content to spend the next hour just staring at those five pictures, but he knew Allison wouldn’t approve, and for some reason that mattered to him.

Flicking the light off, he went up the stairs and got ready for bed.

“That Allison has a good eye,” John said unexpectedly, surprising the others. “I would have picked those three out myself.”

* * *

The voices in the house had changed. For weeks, they had been filtering into Melissa’s dreams, beckoning her like the scent of coffee in the morning. Not that she had ever had coffee before.

While it was true that she could rouse herself any moment she wanted, she rarely felt the need or desire to do so. There seemed to be so little point. They had been in the house for so long; nothing ever changed. All she would end up doing was going back to sleep again. Besides, if the others really needed her, they would come get her. It was easier to just stay asleep. It helped to pass the time. Although, she knew somewhere in the back of her mind that time was something they were running out of.

Days passed, and slowly her senses grew sharper. She began to hear more and more, although the voices were often muffled and distant. Perhaps it was the fact that she had chosen to sleep in the closet that allowed her to remain so removed from the events in the house for the past few months. There were rarely any conversations close enough to really intrude on her dreams, but regardless, something was pulling at her. There was something different about the voices she heard. And, there was the measured but unmistakable increase of activity from the others that was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Erica was no surprise; she was always awake and easily excited. Isaac wasn’t much different, although he was generally less likely to take an active interest in the activities in the house. The fact that _John_ was watching everything so closely was what really intrigued her. 

When she realized that she was intrigued, she realized she was having fully formed thoughts. She could no longer deny the fact that she was awake and should join the others downstairs. Reluctantly, she left the closet, and made her way down. They sensed her approaching, and Erica swooped over to her, buzzing with excitement.

“Isn’t it great!” she exclaimed. “Everyone’s already settled in and they know each other pretty well, now. It looks like they’re going to get along great!”

“So, who do we have this time?” Melissa asked, with only a hint of exasperation.

“Well, the one with the black hair is Scott,” Erica said. “He moved in first. The girl with the long curly black hair on the other side of the table is his girlfriend, Allison. She doesn’t live here, but she comes over a lot.”

Allison and Scott were quietly working on a puzzle together, each uttering small outbursts of triumph whenever they found two pieces that fit together.

“Allison likes puzzles,” Erica continued. “Scott only really does them so they can spend time together, but he gets pretty into it once they get started.”

They had been watching Allison and Scott for about twenty minutes when Jackson came down the stairs.

“Who’s this?” Melissa asked.

“That’s Jackson,” Isaac said. “He’s kind of a douche, but we think he’s actually a decent guy underneath it all.”

“Douche?” Melissa asked.

“Is ‘ass’ better?” Isaac replied. “I don’t know; he makes me laugh.”

Melissa sighed.

Jackson walked up to the table and picked up the box that the puzzle pieces had come from.

“A thousand pieces,” he read. “You guys are such nerds.”

“That’s not what you said when you were helping us with one the other night,” Allison said, arching an eyebrow at him. “You know you want to sit down.”

Jackson smiled sardonically and put the box down. “No, thank you. Doing puzzles gives me a headache.” He opened the refrigerator. “I’m just looking for something to eat. I’m studying for a test next week.”

“Oh?” Allison asked, turning around to face him. “What class?”

“Accounting,” Jackson answered, pulling a loaf of bread from the fridge.

Allison scrunched up her face. “Ew! I am so glad I’m not a business major!”

Jackson huffed a sigh and nodded in agreement as he placed the bread on the counter and grabbed the jar of grape jelly. “The professor’s a tool,” he said, closing the refrigerator. “I’m only taking it cuz’ it’s required.”

“Does he live here?” asked Melissa.

“Yup,” Erica replied.

“The house is full, right?” Melissa asked. “There’s a third person living here?”

“Derek’s the third,” Isaac offered. “He’s not home right now. He went to see a movie with his friend Stiles.”

Melissa thought about this for a moment, then asked, “Does Stiles ever come to the house?” 

“Yeah, he comes over all the time,” Isaac answered. “He and Allison have actually become pretty good friends. I think they hang out at Allison’s dorm, sometimes.”

“Does anyone else come around regularly?” Melissa pressed.

“No,” Erica answered. “Not really.”

“Hmm,” Melissa mused. “So there’s five of them. That’s interesting.”

“Yes, it is,” John said abruptly, reminding them all that he was there.

They watched as Jackson finished making his sandwich and put everything away. He started eating it as he stood over Allison shoulder, watching as she and Scott continued to work on the puzzle.

“Don’t you both have homework to do?” he asked.

“Yup,” Scott answered with a mischievous smile.

“Yup,” echoed Allison.

Jackson reached out suddenly and put two puzzle pieces together. “Suckers!” he said, pumping his sandwich into the air. “I going back to accounting,” he said, walking away. “Have fun being lame.”

“Good night, Jackson!” Allison called after him.

He continued up the stairs without replying.

“You’re right,” Melissa said. “He is a douche.”

John laughed.

“You getting hungry?” Scott asked.

“Kinda,” Allison answered, adding another puzzle piece to a fairly large section she had managed to put together. “Should we order something?”

“Nah,” Scott said, looking up at her. “I’ve been cooped up in this house all day. Let’s go to that pizza place down the street.”

“Okay,” Allison said, turning around to get her jacket, which was draped on the back of her chair. “Sounds good.”

Scott got up and stood next to her as she put her jacket on, then grabbed her hand. They turned off the light and went out the front door, leaving Erica, John, Isaacn and Melissa in the dark.

They stepped out into the cooling air and Allison pulled Scott’s arm close to her.

“I can’t believe we’ve already been here for two months!” Allison exclaimed.

“I know!” Scott replied. “But, it kind of feels like we’ve lived here forever.”

Allison leaned into his shoulder. “Before you know it, we’ll be going home for Thanksgiving. Oh look!” she said, pointing. “It’s Derek and Stiles!”

Derek and Stiles were walking towards them, apparently headed to the house.

“Hey guys,” Scott said, opening his arms to hug Stiles. In the very brief time they had known each other, they’d basically become best friends. “How was the movie?”

Stiles hugged him back. “Okay, I guess.”

Derek laughed. “He loved it,” he said, pulling down on Stiles’ beanie so that it went over his glasses. “He’s just too embarrassed to admit it.”

“Oh?” Allison asked, eyeing Stiles as he readjusted his hat.

Derek continued, "The only thing that was playing when we got there was some romantic comedy with Sandra Bullock.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and looked away from them.

“So, what are you two up to?” Derek asked.

“We were gonna grab a bite to eat,” Scott said. “You wanna come with?”

“Where’re you going?” Stiles asked.

“The pizza place,” Allison answered.

“Sure, I could eat,” Stiles replied.

Derek laughed again. “You can always eat.”

“Whatever!” Stiles exclaimed, giving Derek a playful shove. “So can you!”

Derek smiled. 

“All right, then” Allison said. “Shall we?”

“Sounds good,” Derek said, gesturing for her to lead the way.

Allison shook her head and started walking towards the pizza place. “How do I always end up being the only girl with a bunch of boys?”

Derek laughed as he, Stiles, and Scott jogged to catch up to Allison. He stayed a few steps behind as his three friends chatted, Stiles having finally broken down and animatedly telling the other two about the parts of the movie that he liked the best. 

All through his life, Derek had always felt a bit like an outsider. When he was younger, he was quiet and shy, traits that he sometimes still had to fight against now that he was an adult. He had been a skinny kid, with eyes that had seemed too big for his face, and he had a tendency to get picked on. He never felt like he belonged. As he grew older, he began to accept who he was, and in many ways began to flaunt it. No one would say his eyes were too big now; in fact he often felt like the object of unwanted attention. He knew what he looked like, and he often used his good looks as yet another layer of protection from the world, posing as someone who was “too good” for the common folk. For him, this meant working out, leather jackets, stubble, and lots of hair gel. He used his aloofness as a shield. If he tried to make himself seem like he was above it all, then he might seem too intimidating to be approachable. If he didn’t let anyone get too close, then nobody could hurt him.

But, things were different now. He smiled as he watched Scott, Allison and Stiles talking. Over the course of the last two months, he had become unexpectedly fond of them. He never felt the need to hide anything from them, to pretend he was something different. And, it wasn’t just that they accepted him. They had in some manner claimed him as their own, each in their own way. He belonged to them in the same strange and subtle way that he was beginning to feel like they belonged to him. They were becoming a family.

Taking a few quick steps, he caught up to them as they approached the restaurant. Allison quickly looked around and saw that although it was getting late, all of the tables were full. Most of the restaurants near the school kept long hours to accommodate the students’ disparate eating schedules. It was chaotic, it was loud, and Derek loved it. Allison walked to the bar, but they were unable to find four empty seats next to each other.

“It’s okay,” Derek shouted over the noise. “Stiles and I can sit over there!” he said, pointing to two empty stools at the other end of the bar.

Allison nodded rather than try to compete with the frat boys roaring over their pitchers of beer at the table behind her. She and Scott sat down and the bartender, wearing a hot pink wig and bright blue eye shadow, walked over to them.

“What can I get for you?” she asked.

“Can we get two menus?” Scott yelled, holding up two fingers.

The bartender nodded, reached behind the counter and handed the menus to them. “I’ll be back in a bit to take your order,” she said with a smile outlined with too much red lipstick. 

Scott glanced at the menu, then put it back down. “You know what I want, right?” he asked Allison.

“Barbeque chicken,” Allison said, nodding.

“’Kay. Can you order for me if she comes back before I do?” he said, hopping off the barstool. “I need to use the restroom.”

“Sure,” Allison said, not taking her eyes off of the menu.

She lingered over the pasta selections for a bit, then quickly moved on. The last time she had ordered pasta there, it was overcooked. She hated soggy noodles. Scott always got the barbeque chicken pizza, which was good, but she was more of a traditionalist. She decided on the margherita pizza when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw that it was one of the frat guys that had been making all of the noise.

“Hi,” he said, his beer laden breath washing over her like a musty dishrag. He reached up to make sure his hat was skewed at the correct angle.

She blinked deliberately to hide any other reaction she might have.

“I’m Matt,” he said, placing his had on the bar to steady himself. “You here by yourself?”

“I’m here with my boyfriend,” Allison said, trying to lean away from him, but finding little room to maneuver. She could hear his friends chuckling behind him. 

“Well, where is he?” Matt asked, looking from left to right with exaggerated motions. “I don’t see him anywhere.”

“He just went to the bathroom,” Allison said, with more than a hint of irritation in her voice. “He’s coming back any second.”

“Well, why don’t I keep you company ‘til he gets here?” he said, making a move for Scott’s empty stool.

Allison stuck out her hand to stop him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said, trying vainly to push him away. “Look, I don’t want to be rude, but I think you should go now.”

“What?” Matt exclaimed, throwing his hands to the side. “I’m just tryin’ to have a conversation.”

“Yeah, well I’m trying not to,” Allison said, turning away from him.

“Hey man, sit down,” one of his friends called out to him. “She’s not interested.”

Matt nodded with a sloppy smirk on his face and put his hand on Allison’s shoulder. Allison tried to shrug it off, but he kept his hand there.

She whipped around. “You are being a major creep!” she said, jabbing her finger at his face. “You need to leave, right now!”

“Yeah?” Matt asked, grinning stupidly. “Or what?”

“Is there a problem here?” Derek asked, appearing suddenly at Allison’s side.

Matt took an involuntary step back, then squared his shoulders. “You her boyfriend?”

“No,” Derek answered, crossing his arms across his chest. 

Stiles craned his neck to watch what was happening.

“Well, then I guess this doesn’t really concern you, does it?” Matt said, taking a small step closer to Allison.

Derek stepped in between them. “Oh, I think it does,” he said, glaring down at the guy who was by no means small, but was at least two inches shorter, and a good fifty pounds lighter than Derek was.

“Hey man, you don’t wanna start nuthin’, ‘cuz I got all my buddies here with me,” Matt said, glancing behind him at his friends. A few of them stood up.

“Hey!” the bartender yelled. “What’s going on over there?”

“It’s nuthin’, Caitlin!” Matt called back to her. “We were just talkin’!”

“Yeah, well it looks like a lot more than that!” Caitlin said, squinting at Matt. “These boys bothering you, honey?” she asked Allison.

“I’m fine,” Allison said, turning to look at Matt. “He was just leaving,” she stated unequivocally.

“Dude! Whatever!” Matt exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “I don’t need this crap!” He stumbled out of the restaurant, his friends that had stood up for him quickly following to make sure he didn’t get into any more trouble.

Derek put his hand on Allison’s back and sat down next to her. “I think I’ll just sit with you until Scott comes back.”

“Thanks, Derek,” Allison said, visibly shaken. “God! That guy was such a creep!”

“Are you okay?” Stiles asked, running up to them.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Allison said.

“We can leave if you want,” Stiles said. “I’m totally cool if you wanna go.”

“No, no,” Allison protested. “Really, I’m fine. Look, just don’t tell Scott about this, okay? He’ll just get pissed off and then he might go and do something stupid.”

They made small talk for a while until Scott came back, clapping Derek and Stiles on the shoulders.

“Hey! What did I miss?” he asked energetically.

“Oh, nothing,” Derek said, turning around and getting up off of the stool. “We were just keeping Allison company while you were gone.”

Scott nodded and sat down. “Did she take our orders, yet?” he asked Allison as Derek and Stiles went back to their seats.

“No, not yet,” Allison said, opening her menu back up.

“Have you decided what you wanted?” Scott asked.

“Yup,” she replied, smiling sweetly at him and snapping the menu closed. “I think I want to try the margherita pizza tonight.”


	4. In Which Derek Over-Analyzes Everything & Everyone Makes It Their Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek's feelings for Stiles grow, but he doesn't know how to say anything about it.

Erica was practically buzzing with excitement. Lydia was finally awake; her older sister who hadn’t even bothered to wake up at all the last time a new group of students moved in. All five of them were spread out across the ceiling watching the young people below, who were watching a movie.

Scott and Allison were snuggled next to each other under a blanket on the love seat. Allison’s head was resting against Scott’s shoulder, her long curly black hair fanned out across the dark blue fleece of the blanket. Her brown eyes were wide and unblinking as she watched the scene play out on the TV. Erica could tell she was holding her breath, as was Derek, whose hand was frozen in the act of reaching for some popcorn. She felt their collective sigh of relief before she heard it, when the killer looking for the girl walked past the girl’s hiding place.

“I like her,” commented Lydia, as she admired the way the light played off of Allison’s hair. “She’s pretty.” Communication was much easier now that Lydia had decided to grace the rest of them with her presence. Her ability allowed the others to use her mind as a conduit to channel their thoughts to each other. This removed the need to speak audibly, so they no longer had to risk being heard by the humans. Lydia called the ability “thought casting.”

John, on the other hand, had the ability to influence behavior. With a little prompting, he was able to make sure that Scott and his friends hardly ever spent their free time anywhere else. Even before his efforts, they tended to keep to the house, as Allison’s dorm room was quite small. Plus, Allison liked the other people that lived there.

This made it much easier for Erica and her family to observe them, as Erica and her family never left the house. Leaving the house was dangerous, and Melissa would never allow it. Erica wondered how they would have survived all this time without their nurse Melissa. John was an excellent bodyguard and cared about all of them very much, but when it came to no-nonsense cool-headedness, they depended on Melissa to guide them.

Erica heard a gasp and then a laugh and she turned her attention back down to the four watching the movie, this time focusing on the two boys on the couch with a huge bowl of popcorn in between them. Derek had given Stiles a playful shove after he jumped at a startling scene. In the short time that had passed from when they first met, they had become so close that if a person didn’t know any better, they would think the two had grown up together. 

They were always with each other, eating off of each other’s plates, helping each other study and laughing at each other’s jokes. Scott, Allison, and Jackson were often caught off-guard by how similar their senses of humor were. Erica didn’t believe it was possible, but she could sense the bond between Stiles and Derek strengthening every day until it was almost as strong as the bond between Scott and Allison. She had never seen two men behave that way before and she communicated as much to the others through Lydia.

“Is that normal for humans?” her brother Isaac asked, watching Derek and Stiles intently now, as Stiles threw a few kernels of popcorn at Derek’s face.

“The other two don’t seem to be reacting strangely to it,” commented Melissa. “Have you sensed anything strange Erica?”

“I’ve been listening to most of their conversations since they moved in, and all I know is that as of about a month ago, Scott and Allison and Jackson keep telling Derek to tell Stiles that he likes him, but Derek doesn’t want to do it. The others talk about it when Derek and Stiles aren’t around. It’s weird, right? Why would Derek have to tell Stiles that he likes him? Aren’t friends supposed to like each other? It doesn’t seem like something that you should actually have to say. It’s really confusing.” She paused in frustration. “Other than that, they seem happy,” she said, letting the others feel what she was feeling.

“We don’t actually know that there’s anything strange going on,” said Lydia, with her usual air of superiority. “For all we know, this is a typical part of their behavior and Scott behaved like this with his friends back where he came from.”

No one had an answer to this, so they went back to watching the four young people below them. When the movie ended, Scott turned on the lights and kissed Allison on the cheek. “I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but I have a lab early in the morning.” Putting his hand on Allison’s back, he asked, “Should we get going?”

“Yeah,” she said, kissing him back and standing up. “You two better behave yourselves while I’m gone, don’t think I wasn’t watching you during the movie.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Derek declared in wide-eyed innocence.

She smiled and shook her head as she folded the blanket and placed it on the loveseat. 

Scott turned off the TV with the remote control, then stood up and stretched. “Good night, Derek. Good night, Stiles,” he said holding out his fist. 

Stiles reached up and bumped it. “Later.” 

With an arched eyebrow and a final pointed look at Derek, Scott took Allison’s hand and they headed towards the door.

“Good night! See you tomorrow!” she called out to them before blowing them a kiss and disappearing with Scott into the night, the door closing behind them.

Derek stood up and brought the popcorn bowl into the kitchen as Stiles walked to the door. Stiles paused with his hand on the knob and turned around as Derek walked up behind him with his hands in his pockets. 

“I had fun tonight,” Stiles said, turning to face Derek and pushing the door open behind him.

“Yeah, me too,” Derek responded, briefly looking into Stiles’ eyes, then quickly looking away again. 

Stiles smiled softly. Derek had a tendency to forget how to talk when Stiles was trying to say good-bye. “Well, good night, big guy. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He backed out of the door and let it close in front of him.

Derek spun around and slowly walked through the living room towards the stairs. He smiled to himself, turning off the lights as he went, letting the room go dark. Luckily, Erica and the others didn’t need the light to see.

“Well, I can say one thing,” began Melissa. “They’ve been here for over three months now and I haven’t heard one word about a party.”

“I love parties!” exclaimed Erica.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with parties?” asked Isaac.

“Don’t you remember the party that almost burned down the house?” she asked them.

“Oh please, Melissa,” said Lydia. “Stop being so dramatic. There’s nothing wrong with young people having a little fun. The fire was an accident, it could have happened to anyone.”

“Well, Melissa does have a point,” said Isaac. “They probably shouldn’t have tried to grill hamburgers in the living room. But, look how nice they fixed it! You can’t even tell!”

Melissa snorted. “Erica, what do you think? Are they the ones?”

“They could be,” she answered. “They each have a strong sense of who they are and what their place in the world is. They’re all very self-reliant and confident people for their age.” She paused. “I don’t know; you’re the one with the premonitions.”

“I know,” Melissa sighed. “That’s just it, I can’t tell. They seem right, but I haven’t felt anything. Not once since those boys have stepped through that door have I felt or sensed the slightest thing.”

“Did you lose it?” asked Isaac. “I’ve never heard of that happening. Can that happen?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Melissa snapped. She immediately felt the others recoil from her. “I’m sorry,” she said with a sigh. “It’s just that with every group of students that passes through this house, we lose more time. Ever since I first sensed that we were supposed to stay in this house until we found the right people, I haven’t felt much of anything at all. It scares me. We can’t make the wrong choice, there is too much at stake here. We have to be sure.”

“Well,” began Lydia, “all we have to go on is our observations of them and your premonitions. I don’t have to tell any of you that if we decide wrong, it could be decades before we’d be able to build up enough strength to try again. But, Melissa’s right; we’re running out of time. John, you haven’t said anything yet. What do you think about all of this?”

“It’s not my place to tell you what to do,” he responded. “I am here to protect you, that’s all.”

“Dammit, John!” exclaimed Lydia. “How many times do we have to go through this? We are not at court anymore; that life is gone and we’re never getting it back! Your rank means nothing here and we need to know what you think! You and Melissa have taken care of us since the day we were born. We’ve spent more time with you than we have with our own parents. You are the oldest and we need you to tell us what to do!”

Erica could sense her older sister becoming hysterical, which was something she did on occasion. Lydia had never been comfortable being thrust into a leadership role, especially given the fact that there should have been two older brothers around to take care of everything. They were gone now. They were gone forever.

“It’s okay, Lydia,” Erica said. “We’re all in this together; John knows that and he will take his share of the responsibility,” she said firmly. Erica rarely used her authority on anyone, being the youngest of the five, and the irony did not escape her that what they were arguing about was how rank no longer mattered. But, John was old, set in his ways, and occasionally a slave to tradition. Perhaps this little bit of prompting would bring him around. She could sense his resistance lessening.

He finally gave in. “If you must have my opinion, I think we could do much worse than choosing these five.” He paused for so long that they were beginning to think he had no more to say when he added, “But, I also think it would be wise to watch them a bit longer.”

“I agree,” said Melissa. “We gain little by rushing into this.”

They were all quiet for a while, each considering what the others had said. Erica felt Jackson approaching on his bicycle. He unlocked the door and stepped through, bringing his bicycle with him. The hood of his white sweatshirt was pulled up over his dirty blonde hair. He leaned the bicycle against the wall and placed his backpack on the couch. They watched as he poured a bowl of cereal for himself and set it down on the kitchen table. Going back into the living room, he retrieved his backpack and brought it with him into the kitchen, setting it on the floor beside his chair. He pulled out one of the textbooks and read as he ate. 

The light at the stairs came on, and Jackson craned his neck around to see who was coming down. It was Derek. Jackson nodded at him and then continued with his reading.

“They kick you out again?” Derek asked as he sat down across from him.

“Yeah, I lost track of the time,” Jackson answered. “Midterm next week. The teacher’s a nut job. He acts like we actually want to be lawyers or something.” 

Derek smiled and nodded. Jackson was an asshole a lot of the time, so hearing him complain gave Derek a weird kind of pleasure. Still, he thought that deep down, Jackson was probably a good, if somewhat insecure person, and he honestly liked the guy.

“What class is it for?” Derek asked.

“Business law,” Jack said, shaking his head in disapproval. Suddenly, his expression changed and he was leering at Derek. “But, if I remember correctly, we have more important things to talk about,” he said, smirking at Derek. “What happened tonight?”

“Nothing,” Derek said defensively as he shrugged. Jackson thought he saw Derek’s cheeks redden. “Stiles and Allison came over and we all watched a movie.”

“And?” prompted Jackson.

“And what?” asked Derek, refusing to meet Jackson’s gaze.

“Come on, man! We talked about this!” Jackson exclaimed. “You have to tell Stiles how you feel about him, even though I can’t for the life of me figure out why you do.”

Derek punched Jackson’s shoulder.

“Ow!” Jackson glared at Derek while he rubbed the spot that Derek hit.

Derek covered his face with his hands. “I’ve never felt like this about anybody before; it’s making me stupid.”

Jackson laughed. “Pretty sure you were stupid before.”

Derek let his arms drop to his sides. “What am I going to do?” he asked with a defeated groan.

“You’re making this too complicated,” Jackson said. “Just grab his shirt, pull him towards you, and kiss him.”

Derek laughed out loud. “Yeah, I don’t know how well that would go over.”

“I think you’d be surprised,” Jackson said with a knowing smile. He took another bite of his cereal.

Derek pushed himself away from the table. “Well, I’m gonna let you get back to your studying,” he said as he rose from his chair. “Good luck with your test.”

“Night,” Jackson said, turning back to his book. “Think about it,” he said jabbing at himself with the spoon, “I know what I’m talking about.”

Smiling, Derek nodded and scratched the back of his head as he walked up the stairs. Jackson hunched over his cereal and quietly paged through the textbook. After a while, he pulled out his iPod and gently bobbed his head up and down to the music as he read.

“I don’t think we’re going to learn anything more about them tonight,” declared John. “I’m going to sleep.”

Erica felt his presence disappear, soon followed by the others, and she was left alone to watch Jackson as he studied. After a while, she drifted into Derek’s room. He was wide-awake, staring up at the ceiling with his fingers laced behind his head. His emotions were swirling around chaotically as he replayed the events of the evening in his mind, wondering if he could ever do what Jackson said he should do. He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to relax. Erica could sense it was not working. 

Such a strange being, she thought to herself. He was easily the largest of the five, but in many ways he was the most gentle. While he was closest to Stiles, he was also fiercely protective of Jackson, Scott and Allison. Kind of like a mother bear, she thought, or at least that was what she had heard. She hovered over him until he fell asleep, wishing she could visit Stiles’ and Allison’s dorms as well, but she knew that was impossible. 

First of all, she had no idea where they lived, and even if she did, she didn’t know if she would survive the short trip. The house was their prison as much as it was their home, and they had been trapped inside of it for over fifty years. More than anything, she wished to be free to leave the house, but she knew they couldn’t rush into a decision. If they chose wrong, they would be trapped in the house that much longer. She was beginning to grow fond of the five they had watched for the last three months and secretly hoped they were the ones they had been waiting for.

The next morning, Derek came down early and sank into the couch. He turned on the TV and flipped through the early morning cartoons, finally settling on something, not really watching it. 

Scott soon made his way down the stairs, fully dressed and carrying his backpack. He saw Derek sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the TV. “What are you doing up already?” Scott asked. “It’s seven o’clock. You never wake up this early.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Derek responded, turning towards Scott, smiling sadly at him.

“You didn’t tell him, did you?” asked Scott, more of a statement than a question.

Derek gave him a melancholy smile and shook his head no.

“Seriously, dude,” said Scott as he opened the refrigerator door and pulled out the orange juice. “This is getting kind of ridiculous.” He grabbed two glasses from the cupboard and began pouring the juice. “You have to say something,” he continued, walking into the living room with a glass of orange juice in each hand. He handed one of them to Derek. “He’s not the first guy you’ve had feelings for, is he?” Scott asked incredulously.

Derek stared at the orange juice in his hands, then answered, “No, not really. But, it’s different this time. He’s not like the other guys; I can’t explain it.” He sat up and looked at Scott, his brow furrowed. “There haven’t been that many guys, you know,” he said defensively.

Erica giggled to herself as Scott’s eyes went wide and he held out his hands in front of him. “Whoa, calm down! I wasn’t implying anything!”

Derek leaned back into the couch and looked up at the ceiling, careful not to spill his orange juice. Scott checked his watch. “Look, I have to go. You don’t have class this afternoon, right?”

Derek shook his head.

“ ‘Kay, we’ll talk more when I get back, all right?”

Derek nodded as Scott headed towards the door. “It’ll be all right! You’ll see!” he called back as the door swung shut. Derek sipped his orange juice and went back to not watching TV.

“I don’t get it,” said Isaac. “If he likes Stiles, and for some reason everyone feels it’s necessary for him to tell Stiles this, then why doesn’t he just tell him?”

“Stiles already knows that Derek likes him,” said Erica. “And, Derek obviously knows that Stiles likes him, too. There’s something else going on here.”

“You’re the one that knows how people feel,” Isaac replied. “If anyone would know what’s going on, it would be you.”

“Well,” she began, pausing a little to get the words right. “More and more, the connection between Derek and Stiles feels like the connection between Scott and Allison. Maybe Derek has decided to make Stiles his mate?”

“Really?” asked Isaac, clearly confused. “How? Is that even possible?”

The others were still asleep, so they had no one else to share their speculations with. A few hours later, the front door opened and Allison walked in. Derek turned to look at her and smiled. His orange juice was only half gone and was getting warm. She sat down next to him and ran her fingers through his hair.

“Scott sent me a text to come over and check on you,” she said, patting his cheek. “Come on,” she ordered as she got up, pulling his hand. “He said that if you were still on the couch to make you get up and get out of the house.”

“No,” he started to whine.

“Derek,” she said, not letting go of his hand. “I’m not leaving here without you.”

“Fine,” he sighed in defeat, setting the orange juice down on the coffee table. “Where are we going?”

“We’re just gonna take a walk around the campus,” she said leading him out the door. “You need to get some fresh air and be out in the sun. It’ll be good for you.”

He looked at her doubtfully, but followed anyway. They closed the door behind them and started walking down the sidewalk where Erica and Isaac could not follow.

They walked slowly, Allison with her hands in her pockets. “So, what’s up, Derek?”

“Don’t you already know?” he asked, giving her a sardonic look.

She smiled up at him and replied, “Well, I’m assuming it’s the same thing that it’s been for the last month.”

She shook her head and smiled at the ground. Pulling her hands out of her pockets, she grabbed Derek’s arm and leaned her head against his shoulder, as they continued to walk, the day growing warmer around them. They were both quiet as they walked through the field and passed the library. Derek laughed when he suddenly realized all he was wearing were his flannel pajama pants, a white undershirt and a pair of flip-flops. 

“What’s so funny,” asked Allison, looking up at him.

“I can’t believe you let me leave the house dressed like this,” he answered.

She laughed and leaned her head back on his shoulder. “I wasn’t going to give you the chance to lock yourself in your room to mope. Besides, we’re on campus, no one cares what you’re wearing.”

He looked down at the sidewalk and smiled. Suddenly, Allison was pulling on his arm. “Oh, look!” she exclaimed. “It’s the cafeteria, let’s go get breakfast!”

He laughed to himself as he let Allison drag him towards the large brown building full of groggy college kids. Breakfast was one of Allison’s favorite things. There was no way he was going to be able to talk her out of displaying him in all of his pajama glory for everyone to see while she dug into a stack of pancakes smothered in butter and maple syrup.

Back at the house, Isaac and Erica were joined the others. They were watching Jackson, who was back at the kitchen table, poring over his business law textbook.

“Something’s wrong,” Melissa said, suddenly. “Something’s wrong!’” She was becoming agitated and it was scaring the rest of them. Melissa had not truly worried about anything in almost twenty years. 

“What is it, Melissa? What’s wrong?” asked Isaac sounding almost panicked. He was not used to Melissa not having things under control.

“I don’t know,” Melissa said. “Something bad is coming. We’re not ready. I need to think.”

Erica felt John growing tense. 

“Can you give us some kind of timeframe, Melissa?” asked Lydia.

“Soon,” she replied. “It’s coming soon. That’s all I know.” 

No one wanted to say what they were all thinking. The five college kids they had been watching might not be the ones they were waiting for, but they might have to use them anyway. John retreated to be by himself. The rest of them continued to watch as Jackson flipped through the pages of his book, oblivious to whatever danger was headed their way.


	5. Something New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek finally kisses Stiles, with unintended consequences.

“What are we going to do?” Lydia asked Melissa. “It’s been four days since your premonition and we’re just sitting here watching them eat dinner.” 

If Erica didn’t know any better, she would say that Lydia was pacing.

“I don’t know,” Melissa replied calmly. “But, if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear what they are.”

“Well, we have to do something!” Lydia snapped back at her.

“What we need to do,” said John, “is stay calm. We can’t help our situation by fighting with each other.”

“All we are doing is waiting,” continued Lydia. “Are we just going to wait until we die?”

“We need to wait for a sign,” said Melissa. “Or, at least some kind of opportunity that we can use. You’re getting all riled up and it’s not going to change anything. Just calm down; we’ll think of something.”

“This is so delicious, Jackson!” exclaimed Allison. “Thank you so much for cooking tonight!”

There was murmured agreement from around the table through mouthfuls of garlic-roasted chicken and new potatoes. Jackson shrugged the compliment away.

“I didn’t have anything else to do,” Jackson said, holding up a tiny potato speared on the end of his fork. “I passed my midterm this morning and I had the rest of the day off. I was bored.”

“I knew you could do it!” Derek said, slapping Jackson on the back, causing the potato to fall off Jackson’s fork.

“You better watch out, pal,” Allison said, elbowing Scott in the arm. “I might have to marry this guy instead of you.”

“Hey!” exclaimed Scott. “I can roast a chicken!”

Derek and Stiles laughed and snorted through their food.

“What?” asked Scott. “I can!”

This only caused Derek and Stiles to laugh harder. They choked down their food and started laughing out loud.

“The one time you tried to cook anything,” said Stiles, after he caught his breath, “we had to throw the pot away!”

This brought a fresh round of laughter from around the table, except from Scott, who was actually pouting now. Normally, Erica would be enjoying the dinner table banter, but she was just as worried about the unnamed threat as the others. She watched the five people below her laughing and enjoying each other’s company, and longed for the days when that would have been her. They had been in the house for so long that she couldn’t remember what fun really was. The only enjoyment she ever had now was by living vicariously through the people that came through the house. She was scared of what was coming, but she was more scared that Scott and his friends would have to give up their lives for her and her family. It wasn’t fair; it wasn’t fair for anyone. The worst part was knowing there was no way to stop it.

They eventually finished their dinner and cleared the table. Jackson excused himself to his room as Scott and Allison turned their attention to the dishes. Derek tried to offer his assistance, but Scott and Allison shooed him away and he was left alone with Stiles in the living room.

“Well, it looks like the dynamic duo has everything under control, huh?” commented Stiles.

“I think they’re probably more like Superman and Wonder Woman,” Derek replied. “They’d probably say we’re the dynamic duo,” he added under his breath.

“Huh?” asked Stiles.

“What?” asked Derek, startling himself a little. “No, nothing,” he said waving it away. “It was stupid.”

Stiles laughed and closed some of the distance between them. “What has gotten into you lately? You’ve been so jumpy.”

Derek took a deep breath. “Stiles, I have to tell you something…” he trailed off at a loss for words.

“Uh-huh?” prompted Stiles.

“Oh, hell!” Derek exclaimed as he grabbed Stiles’ shirt. Stiles took a baby step back in surprise as he tried not to laugh.

“I think I’m in love with you,” Derek exclaimed, pulling Stiles towards him and kissing him full on the lips before Stiles could say anything. Stiles’ eyes were open for only a half second longer before they closed and he melted into Derek’s arms.

“Oh my!” said Melissa as she watched the scene unfold.

“Wow,” said Lydia. “I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

“I didn’t expect that,” said Isaac matter-of-factly, more curious now than shocked.

“I did,” Erica replied. She had forgotten about their troubles for a moment as she rode on the waves of emotion being thrown off by the newly formed couple below them.

Scott and Allison were peeking around the corner from the kitchen and had seen the whole thing. “It’s about freaking time,” Scott whispered to Allison.

She gave him a smirk. “Tell me about it. At least he didn’t take as long as you did to ask me out.”

“Whatever!” whispered Scott back at her as he headed back to the sink with Allison in tow.

“Oh my goodness!” exclaimed Melissa, still engrossed with Derek and Stiles.

“What is it, Melissa?” asked Lydia.

“That’s it! That’s what we’ve been waiting for! That’s the sign!” she exclaimed. “They’re the ones! They’re the ones we’ve been waiting for!”

“Who, Derek and Stiles?” asked Isaac.

“No! I mean, yes,” she answered, flustered. “I mean all of them, all five of them! They’re the ones!”

“Are you sure?” asked Lydia.

“Yes! I felt it just now when Derek kissed Stiles,” Melissa said. “We have to tell them. We have to tell them tonight!” 

Erica had never seen Melissa this animated. “Really?” she asked, feeling sorry for them again. “Do we have to tell them tonight? Look at how happy they are. Can’t we let them be happy for just a little while?”

“Erica, sweetheart,” Melissa replied. “I know you’re more in tune to them than the rest of us, and that you can feel things that we could never understand, even with Lydia’s’s help, but we’re running out of time. Every second that goes by brings danger that much closer to our door. Think about it. They are probably in as much danger as we are.”

“She’s right,” said Lydia. “This won’t end well for them if we do not act.”

“Lydia,” said Melissa. “You know what to do. Get everyone into the living room. We have to do this tonight.” Melissa addressed the rest of them. “All right, we all need to work together if we are going to pull this off, especially you Isaac.”

“Don’t worry,” said Isaac. “I’m ready.”

“Erica, you know what to do,” she continued. “John, I assume you have some likenesses ready for us?”

All John gave for an answer was a grunt. 

Lydia went to Jackson’s room and paused in front of his door. She hadn’t done anything like this in a long time, and was hoping that John’s abilities would make them all seem real enough. She took a moment to steady herself then raised her arm and knocked.

Jackson looked up from his book. Did someone just knock at his door? Whenever Derek or Scott needed him for something, they usually just called out to him. He put his book down on the nightstand, walked to his door and opened it. He was not prepared for what he saw. Standing in his doorway was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his entire life. Long, luxurious strawberry blonde curls fell down her back framing her large green eyes and full red lips. He was convinced she was an angel.

He said the first thing that came to mind. “Who are you?”

“Hello, Jackson,” she said with a sultry voice, extending her hand. “My name is Lydia.”

Jackson felt like he couldn’t think straight, but he liked what he saw and he wanted to find out more about this strange woman who had appeared out of nowhere. He took her hand gingerly into his own. “Hi, Lydia,” he said with a huge smile. “Do I know you?”

“Don’t be afraid,” she said, her face tilted down. She was gazing up at him with a shy and uncertain look.

He was confused for a second. Why would she say that? But, he answered, full of bravado, as if the question had been an insult, “I’m not afraid.”

She smiled at him. “Good.” Her teeth were perfectly straight and perfectly white. “Jackson?” she asked. She felt John adding his power of suggestion to everything she said and did.

“Yes,” he replied too quickly, completely under her spell.

“Could you do me a favor?” she asked with a little pout.

“Of course, I’ll do anything!” he said.

“I know,” she replied, smiling as she led him out of his room by his hand. “It’s just a little thing really. Could you ask Scott and Allison to join us in the living room?”

“Of course! I can do that! That’s easy!” he answered excitedly, like a child trying to impress a grown-up.

“And, one more thing Jackson,” Lydia said.

“Yes?” he asked.

“My family is going to be downstairs. They’re very excited to meet you,” she said, smiling at him.

“I’m excited to meet them, too!” he replied. Jackson paused for a moment, because he realized he actually was excited to meet them. What was happening to him? Lydia smiled at him again and his concerns drifted away.

Derek and Stiles were sitting next to each other on the couch holding each other’s hands. Their heads were bent close together, their foreheads almost touching, as they whispered back and forth to each other, but they both stood up immediately when they saw Lydia leading Jackson down the stairs.

“Oh, hi,” sputtered Derek. “Um, Jackson? We didn’t know you had company.”

Lydia turned to Jackson and gave him a shy look again. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

Jackson looked shocked for a second, then recovered. “Oh, yeah! Derek, Stiles, this is Lydia. Lydia, this is Derek and this is Stiles,” he said, gesturing to each of them in turn.

“Very nice to meet you both,” she said as she accepted their outstretched hands. “Stiles, is it? And, Derek?” She turned back to Jackson. “I would like you all to meet my family,” she said as she gestured towards the loveseat, where a boy and a girl were sitting, both with curly blonde hair. They would have blended right in with all of the students on campus. Behind them was an older couple, the woman with curly black hair and an olive complexion, the man with closely cropped dirty blonde hair. He looked like an off-duty cop.

Derek and Stiles looked at each other, the same question on both of their minds: _Had those people been there the whole time?_

“The young woman sitting there in the white dress is my sister, Erica,” Lydia said, by way of introduction. 

Erica beamed and waved at them the way a young girl would wave at a kitten or a puppy.

“The handsome young man sitting next to her is my brother Isaac,” she added. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, black pants and a dark green vest. He was smiling as well, but he was eyeing them curiously, as if taking their measure.

Lydia paused for a moment, unsure of how to explain John and Melissa. 

“Tell them we are your aunt and uncle,” Melissa thought cast to her. “We don’t have time to go into details right now.”

Lydia nodded imperceptibly and continued, “And, the man and woman standing behind the couch are my Uncle John and Aunt Melissa.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” said Melissa, bobbing her head in greeting. Her hair, was pulled into a loose bun. Her eyes sparkled as she smiled warmly at them. The man beside her did not smile or nod or say anything at all. Instead, he just seemed to be staring sternly with his arms crossed, as if daring them to do something wrong.

Suddenly, Stiles blurted out, “What are you people doing here?” He wasn’t normally a rude person, but this was more than he could take.

Lydia smiled at him and said, “Don’t worry, everything will be explained in a moment. Jackson?” she asked. “I need you to ask Scott and Allison to come in here now.”

“Okay,” he answered, leaving the room.

Scott and Allison we just finishing up with the dishes as he entered the kitchen. They were drying their hands off, whispering and giggling to each other.

“Scott, Allison?” he said as he approached them. There was a huge smile on his face.

“Hey, man. What’s up?” asked Scott as he put down the dishtowel.

“I need you to see something in the living room,” he answered.

Allison covered her mouth with her hand and started giggling again. Scott smiled down at her, saying, “Yeah, we already know about Derek and Stiles.”

Jackson gave them a quizzical look. “What about Derek and Stiles?” he asked.

“Aren’t they still making out on the couch?” asked Allison.

“No,” he answered, looking confused. “What happened? Why did I come in here?”

“Hey buddy, you okay?” asked Scott, his brow furrowing in concern. “You said you wanted us to see something in the living room?”

The dreamy smile came back to Jackson’s face. “Oh, yeah. There’s some people there that I want you to meet,” he replied.

Scott looked at Allison. She shook her head to indicate she didn’t know what was going on. Scott gave a little shrug and began to follow Jackson out of the kitchen. Allison grabbed Scott’s hand and followed as well, still smiling at the thought of Derek and Stiles. They walked into the living room and saw the unusually large gathering of people waiting for them. Derek had his arm around Stiles in what almost looked like a protective stance. Scott took up a similar position with Allison as Jackson walked across the living room to stand next to Lydia and hold her hand. He was smiling at her like she was the only one in the room.

“Um, hi?” said Scott, unsure of what to do.

Lydia approached him with her hand held out in front of her. “Hi, my name is Lydia, and this is my family,” she said gesturing towards the people at the loveseat. Her family, as she called them, were all smiling at him and Allison. Except the man in the back. He was just staring with a narrowed gaze.

Scott shook her hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said in cautious monotone.

Lydia grasped Scott’s hand with both of her own and looked directly into his eyes, then into Allison’s. “We need your help,” she said, a slight edge of desperation in her voice.

Scott and Allison looked at the strangers in their living room. They did not look like they were hurt or scared or in any kind of trouble. “No offense,” said Allison, “but who are you?”

Lydia turned to Melissa, not sure how to begin.

“Please,” said Melissa, gesturing at the couch. “Please have a seat. We have some explaining to do.”

Derek and Stiles sat down on one end of the couch and Scott and Allison sat down next to them. Lydia sat on the couch’s arm, Jackson still standing next to her.

“We’re not from here,” said Lydia.

“Are you lost?” asked Allison, her mind flying a million miles an hour, trying to figure out who these people could possibly be.

“No, not really,” answered Lydia. She heard Erica thought cast to her to be careful as she continued, “We’re far away from our home, but we’re not trying to get back there. We’ve actually been here for a long time.”

“Are you all from another country?” asked Allison, not sure how she had suddenly become the spokesperson for her group.

“You could say that,” said Lydia.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” declared John suddenly, startling everyone. “We don’t have time for this! There’s no other way to say it than to just say it. We are not from this planet.”

“What?” asked Allison in surprise.

“What?” Derek, Stiles, and Scott echoed in unison, each of them sitting more upright now.

“Huh?” asked Jackson, seeming to snap out of whatever trance he seemed to be in.

“It’s true,” said Lydia, as the five humans turned to look at her. John put the full force of his abilities behind Lydia’s words, as she continued, “Please don’t be afraid; we never would have gotten all of you involved in this if there was any other way, but what John said is true.” She paused and looked down, then took a breath and closed her eyes. She opened them again, looked up and confirmed what they all thought they heard. “We are not from this planet.”


	6. The Sixth Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The humans and the aliens have a heart-to-heart, and life as they know it will never be the same.

“You, my friends, are in danger, and unfortunately, we may be to blame for that,” said John.

“But,” began Allison, but John held up a hand to cut her off.

“Please, let me finish,” he said. “Because of our presence, it is no longer safe for you in this house. Someone or something is coming to destroy us, and will likely kill all of you as well because of your connection to us.”

“So, you’re saying you’re aliens?” asked Allison, her eyebrow arched unbelievingly. 

“It’s true,” said Erica, no longer smiling. “We watched you move in. We’ve been living here this whole time.” Erica could feel them all becoming scared and confused. She reached out with her mind to Isaac to let him know that John needed his help. She saw Isaac nod out of the corner of her eye.

“How did we not see you?” asked Allison, trying to make sense out what the strangers were saying. She gestured wildly around her asking, “Are there secret rooms in this house? Have you been spying on us through holes in the walls or something?”

“No, it’s not like that,” said Erica desperately. She bit her bottom lip. How was she going to explain this?

“We don’t actually have bodies,” filled in Lydia, not sure that it would help.

Allison jumped out of her seat. “What are you talking about? I can see you right in front of me!” she said stretching out her hands at Lydia.

“It’s my ability,” explained John. “We discovered a few years back that if they all help me, I can make people believe they’re seeing something that isn’t really there. It takes a lot of our energy, and we can’t do it for very long, but that’s all you’re seeing. It’s just an illusion.” 

The three boys stood up now. Allison poked Lydia’s knee with her finger. “But, I can feel you. You’re not an illusion.”

“No,” Lydia corrected. “You just think you felt me.”

Derek shrugged his shoulders and held up his hands. “Look, either you and your,” he paused, looking at Erica and Isaac on the loveseat, “family are crazy, or we’re gonna need some kind of proof for what you’re saying.”

“Okay, that’s fair,” John answered. He closed his eyes and Lydia disappeared. 

Derek gasped as Allison swatted at the space where Lydia had been sitting only moments before. Lydia reappeared, causing Allison to yelp and crush herself against Scott’s chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Please,” said Lydia. “We’re not here to scare you.”

“What was that about something coming to kill us?” asked Derek, looking at John.

“Yeah, and how are we connected to you?” asked Scott. 

“The connection, sweetheart,” said Melissa, a sad look on her face, “is that we live in the same house.”

“Then we’ll leave,” said Scott.

“It’s too late for that,” replied Melissa sadly. “They’ll find you.”

“Who will?” asked Jackson. Allison looked up startled; she had forgotten that Jackson was there. Whatever John had done to him was no longer working.

“Whoever destroyed our planet,” answered Lydia.

“Okay, look,” said Derek, angry now. “Someone better start talking and they better start talking now!” he said, jabbing his finger at the floor.

“We’re refugees from our planet,” explained Lydia. “We were part of a system of fifteen worlds, peaceful for the most part. One day, we lost communication with one of the outer planets. We sent reconnaissance teams, but none of them ever came back, and we never heard from them again. We kept an eye on that planet, but we were never able to get any information. Scans of the surface showed that the life on it was slowly disappearing, until one day it was gone. It was just gone. It was stripped completely bare,” she said, sounding like she was horrified of the words coming out of her mouth.

“Nothing happened for over a year. Then, complete chaos.” She looked up at them, her eyes shining with what looked like tears. “We never figured out what happened to the first planet, but whatever it was, it attacked the remaining fourteen worlds all at once. Our two older brothers were killed. That’s when our mother, Queen Talia, put the three of us on an escape pod with our caretakers, Melissa and John, and sent us into space. She must have hoped we would have eventually found someplace to live. We ended up here.”

“What was it?” asked Allison. “What was attacking you?”

“We don’t really know,” Lydia replied, shaking her head.

“There were reports of unrest from the whole system, ranging from small riots to civil wars,” said John. “At first, it just seemed like we were having a bad year, but as the reports increased, our thoughts turned to the planet we lost. There was no way to know for sure, but we began to wonder if it was perhaps some kind of disease that was making everyone go mad.”

“Soon, people were dying everywhere,” said Lydia. “We had to give up our bodies just to be safe.”

“What do you mean, ‘Give up your bodies?’” asked Stiles, not sure he wanted to believe what he was hearing, but scared and curious just the same.

“Our natural form is pure energy,” answered Lydia. “On our home world, we take over the bodies of simple, almost mindless, herbivores so that we can interact with our world. We bred them for strength and dexterity, but like any animal, they were fairly easy to kill. If one of us is inside of an animal when it dies, then we die too. 

“Bonding is slow, draining, and painful. It takes an extremely long time to build up the reserves of energy required to form a bond, so we hardly ever reverse the process. Also, when we’re in our natural forms, we’re vulnerable to some forms of energy, like magnetic fields or fire or wind. And, we can’t really touch or move anything. But in some ways, it’s safer because of how fast we can travel and how easy it is for us to hide.”

“Why do you need to hide?” asked Allison.

“We were followed,” answered Melissa.

“You were followed?” asked Stiles. “Did you see them?”

“No,” answered Melissa. “We didn’t see them, but I knew that we were.”

“How did you know?” Stiles pressed, not satisfied with her answer.

“It’s my ability,” said Melissa, pausing as she grasped for the right words. “I suppose you would call them premonitions.”

“Do all of you have these abilities?” asked Derek.

“Yes,” answered Lydia. “My siblings and I are from a royal line. It’s rare to find a person with noble ancestry who doesn’t have some kind of special ability. Melissa and John are not from noble houses, but they were given a place in our household because they displayed abilities that were not typical of our race.”

“So, what do you need from us?” asked Allison, eyeing Melissa and John cautiously.

“We want to bond with you,” said Lydia.

“No way!” Allison exclaimed as she shoved herself way from Scott. “No one is taking over my body!” she declared pointing at Lydia angrily.

“It wouldn’t be like that!” said Erica, scared that they were going to run away.

“We’ve done experiments with volunteers from some of the other planets, species with intelligence and self-awareness, like you,” Lydia added quickly. “When we bond with a species like you, it’s more like we would just be sharing the space. We wouldn’t be able to control you; you would still be in full control of your body and mind.”

“There’s good things about bonding, too!” said Erica, smiling at them encouragingly.

“Good things?” asked Derek.

“Well, yes,” agreed Lydia. “Because of our energetic state, the host always becomes faster and stronger and heals much more quickly from injury.”

“You wouldn’t get sick anymore!” added Erica, holding up a finger for emphasis.

“In essence,” said John, “your bodies would stop aging. You would start to age normally again if we were to ever un-bond from you.”

Allison sat down on the couch with her head in her hands. “This is crazy. This can’t be happening,” she said shaking her head in disbelief. Scott sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

“And, what if we don’t want to bond with you?” asked Jackson defiantly.

“We can’t bond with you against your will,” said Melissa. “John tried to bond with one of your kind soon after we landed. We knew nothing of your race and we didn’t speak your language. We knew we had been followed and he was only trying to protect us. It almost killed both him and the host.”

“This is crazy,” Allison repeated, her head still in her hands. “This. Is. Crazy,” she said slowly, emphasizing each word. 

“We don’t like it any more than you do,” said Lydia. “We would never have revealed ourselves to you if Melissa hadn’t gotten another one of her premonitions.”

Allison looked up at Melissa and asked, “What did you see?”

“Four days ago, I sensed that our time was running out in this house,” Melissa explained. “We are all in danger here. I don’t know what’s coming, but I know that it’s coming soon. I got another premonition just a moment ago, when Derek kissed Stiles,” she said, gesturing at both of them. “I knew then that we had to reveal ourselves to you tonight and that we had to bond with you, tonight. Every second that passes. . . ” she stopped and shook her head, unwilling to continue.

“But, we just met you!” said Stiles. “How can you expect us to believe all of this? This is insane! You can’t just expect us to trust you because you’ve told us this crazy story! How do we know this isn’t invasion of the body snatchers or something?”

“I know this is asking a lot from you, but believe us when we tell you that we have come to respect and admire you in the short time that we have watched you in this house,” said Melissa. “We would never do anything to hurt you.”

“Look,” said Lydia. “I have a proposition for you. If you open your minds to me, I can link us all together, and you can see who we really are. If you don’t like what you see, then we’ll leave you alone, and go on our way.” Erica felt a shot of pain course through her as Lydia spoke. It had taken Lydia everything she had to make that final statement.

They were all quiet for a moment, then Scott spoke up. “This might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but fine. Come one,” he said, waving Lydia over to him. “Come do your mind meld thing, or whatever it is you’re going to do. Just get it over with.”

Allison’s eyes went wide, but then she grabbed his hand and nodded, saying, “Yeah, okay, me too.” 

Jackson scowled, but looked like he was more worried about being left out of something than he was worried about something bad happening to him. He shrugged. “Sure, I wanna see what it’s like inside of an alien.”

Derek looked at Stiles. Stiles’ eyes were bright, but he nodded. Derek leaned in and kissed him gently, then whispered, “We’re in too.” 

“Okay,” said Lydia. “Just relax.”

They all heard what sounded like the soft rush of wind and they found themselves suddenly surrounded by a crush of thoughts, images and emotions. Lydia: the princess, their leader in many respects, but not trained or experienced in that role. She was constantly doubting herself, but in this one moment, she was absolutely sure of what had to be done. Melissa and John: confident, capable and ready to do whatever it took to protect the three that had been left in their charge. Isaac: bright, young and curious about everything around him. Derek found himself suddenly wanting to protect him almost as much as Melissa and John did.

And, then there was Erica, the youngest of the five. When they saw themselves through Erica, Allison was nearly brought to tears. Erica loved them; she loved them so much more than they deserved. She had not stopped watching from the first moment that Scott walked through the front door. It was then that they discovered how she had impatiently waited for them to arrive, pinning all of her hopes on them, filled with expectations they couldn’t possibly see themselves fulfilling. 

She had listened to all of their conversations, watched them interacting with each other day and night. And, she did more than watch. She had felt every emotion as they felt it. In the three short months she had watched them, she had managed to learn more about them than they even knew of themselves. She saw through each of them to their core; she saw their hopes and their dreams. She saw the things that scared them. She loved them in every way that they understood that they could be loved, and in ways that they had yet to learn. They felt her fear. Even if the danger was not something that any of them could name, it was real to her and she was scared for them. She was trusting them to do the right thing.

Allison could feel all of them making up their minds. First, Derek and Stiles, then Scott, then Jackson. She was the only one who had not yet decided. Could she continue living her life as if tonight had never happened, knowing that the universe was so much bigger than she had imagined? Would any of them survive if she chose wrong? Could she ever forgive herself if something horrible happened? She took another look at Erica, who was so much older in years than she was, but for some reason thought of her, Allison, as an older sister, as someone to admire. She made her decision.

“Okay,” she whispered, speaking for the group. “We’re ready.”

She found herself surrounded by light, with Erica standing before her. Erica took her hands and smiled at her. Allison smiled back, a single tear tracing its way down her cheek, and Erica nodded. The light grew brighter and brighter until the only thing that Allison could see was brilliance and warmth, the soft light of a distant star magnified more times than she could count, burning away all fear and reservation, and bringing her to a place within herself that was true and pure and braver than she had ever imagined.

* * *

“Stiles! Wake up!”

Stiles blinked a few times, then sat up. Everything was blurry. He looked over the rims of his glasses and everything was clear. Looking through them again, his vision went blurry, so he took them off and put them in his pocket thinking he would deal with them later. 

Scott, Allison, Derek, and Jackson were all passed out around him. The strangers were nowhere to be seen. He stood up, and the room began to spin. He quickly grabbed Derek’s knee to steady himself and covered his face with his other hand, taking a few deep breaths. When he felt like he could stand up without falling over, he let go of Derek’s knee and looked around.

“Stiles!” called Isaac from somewhere inside of his head.

“Where are you?” he asked, still disoriented and feeling a little like he might throw up.

“I’m here,” said Isaac. “I’m inside of you now. Stiles, I need you to pay attention. We are running out of time. Do you see the light coming from the kitchen?”

Stiles looked over at the kitchen and saw the bright orange glow. “What is that?”

“The oven is exploding. I need you to make a run for the door and save yourself.”

“What?” Stiles asked, fully alert now. “What do you mean the oven is exploding?”

“You are moving several times faster than normal right now. It’s one of my abilities, but I can only keep it up for one or two seconds of normal time. You need to get out of the house before the explosion knocks us out.”

“What about them?” he asked, panic jolting through him as he looked at his friends.

“They’ll be fine, but only if you move! Go! Now!” yelled Isaac.

Stiles saw the explosion start to speed up as he bolted for the door. 

“Don’t waste time with the knob!” yelled Isaac “Just run through it!”

Stiles slammed into the door just as time seemed to resume its normal pace, the explosion catching up to him, blasting him and the door through the air. He crashed onto the sidewalk and rolled twice before coming to rest on the street. Trying to push himself up, he saw bright orange flames shoot out of the door and windows, but he fell back down, his face smashing into the pavement as the world went dark.


	7. And Then, There Were Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the explosion, Stiles and Isaac are left on their own.

Stiles felt a surge go through his body, causing him to roll over and sit upright. He opened his eyes and saw that time seemed to have slowed down again.

“Are you doing this?” he asked Isaac.

“I’m speeding you up again and I healed all of your wounds,” Isaac explained. “You need to get back inside the house and rescue your friends before people start showing up to investigate the noise.”

Stiles leapt to his feet and ran towards the house. The flames coming out of the windows were waving slowly, like seaweed swaying underwater. There wasn’t any smoke yet. He leapt through the door and found his friends scattered around the living room, still unconscious. He ran to Derek, who was laying face down across the width of the coffee table, his head and legs on the floor. The back of his head was singed from the explosion. Stiles panicked. 

“How am I supposed to carry him?” he screamed. “He weighs like two hundred pounds!” The flames were starting to move faster again.

“Remember how we told all of you that you would all be faster and stronger?” asked Isaac. “Well, you’re even faster and stronger than they are, or will be anyway if we can get them out of this. Trust me, you can do this.”

He wrapped his arms around Derek’s torso and lifted him onto his shoulder. It was a lot easier than he thought it would be, as if he were carrying a two-year-old child. He ran around the coffee table to where Allison was sprawled out on the floor and picked her up under one arm, holding her against his side.

He briefly considered grabbing either Jackson or Scott as well until he heard Isaac’s voice telling him, “You can come back for them in a second. You have to come back anyway; won’t be able to carry all four of them at the same time.”

Time seemed to stop again as he bolted for the door. He ran across the street and hid Derek and Allison in the neighbor’s bushes before running back into the house. He found Jackson lying on the floor then looked for Scott, but he didn’t see him. Time resumed its normal speed and the house grew hot as tongues of flame began to crawl over every surface.

“Where is he?” Stiles yelled. “I don’t see him!”

“Stay calm!” Isaac yelled back at him. “He has to be in here somewhere, you just have to look.”

Stiles lifted Jackson onto his shoulder, then ran to the overturned couch. He spotted a red Converse sticking out from underneath it. He lifted the couch with his free hand, and found Scott. Flinging the couch angrily to the side, he picked Scott up and carried him with one arm, holding him against his hip, and ran from the house. There were no spectators yet, but he knew he only had seconds to spare. 

He began to head towards the bushes where he had stashed Derek and Allison, but heard Isaac’s voice in his head again. “Leave them there for now. We need to find a more secure location, farther away from the house.”

“We can go to my dorm room,” suggested Stiles. “It’s at the other end of campus. No one should have heard the explosion over there.”

“No,” said Isaac. “They might look for you there.”

“Okay.” Stiles thought for a second. “There’s these two guys on my floor. They just left for a road trip; they won’t be back for a week.”

“Perfect,” Isaac replied, as he pumped new energy into Stiles’ veins. 

“How are you doing that?” asked Stiles as he ran across the campus, seeing other college students well before they noticed him, allowing him to swerve out of their way and not draw their attention.

“I’m an augmenter,” Isaac answered. “I make other people’s abilities work better. When I’m in a host body, my ability grants that person an accelerated metabolism. This makes you faster and stronger than the others. I can also give you short bursts of extra speed once in a while, but we need to save those for when we really need them. How much farther to the room?”

“It’s just past this building,” he said as he zipped by the science wing and up a set to stairs. 

He came to a halt in front of one of the doors and gently laid Scott down on the floor. Luckily, there was no one else in the hallway. He grabbed the knob with his free hand and gave the door a quick thrust with his hip, breaking the lock.

“Sorry,” he muttered under his breath. “You’re not getting your security deposit back.” He could sense that Isaac was somewhat amused at the breaking and entering.

Stepping into the room, Stiles was surprised to find that he could still see, even though the room was dark. “I suppose this is your doing, as well?” he asked.

“Yes,” Isaac answered. “Hurry up, we still have to get the others.”

Stiles laid Jackson down on one of the beds, then went back to the walkway for Scott, who he put in the other bed. He left the room and closed the door, looking at the broken doorknob.

“How are we going to lock this?” he asked. 

“Don’t worry about it; we’ll only be gone for a minute,” Isaac replied.

A few people had gathered to watch the fire by the time Stiles got back. He dove into the neighbor’s bushes without anyone noticing him and lifted Derek onto his shoulder again, then reached down and gently picked up Allison. Checking to make sure the coast was clear, he left the same way he arrived. Back at the room, he laid Allison down next to Scott and then sat Derek up against the wall next to a desk. He closed the door, then slumped down next to Derek and slowly leaned back against Derek’s shoulder. 

He sat in the quiet dark of the room, crickets chirping softly outside. His heart was racing, so he took deep slow breaths, trying to calm himself down. Isaac had grown mysteriously quiet. Stiles listened to the sounds of his friends’ breathing, watching the steady rise and fall of their chests with each oblivious breath. They all looked so serene. Blinking at the dark that was apparently no longer a hindrance to his vision, he pulled his glasses out of his pocket, and began mindlessly turning them over and over again in his hands, watching the way the meager light played off of their glossy surface. As far as he could tell, he didn’t need them anymore.

His adrenaline was spent and his fight or flight response subsided. He was able to have coherent thoughts again, even though he felt wrung out. He didn't remember ever noticing the sounds of the night coming into his room before and he wondered if that was because he was never before he able to hear them. 

As he sat there quietly, turning his glasses over and over in his hands, the events of the past hour came flooding back. His vision went blurry and his breath began to catch in his throat. He brought his fists up to his eyes, and he let out a muffled sob. It was too much. First, there was the whole thing with Derek; for so long, he’d been waiting for Derek to do something, anything! And then, it finally happened, and it was wonderful and beautiful and everything he ever imagined it would be! 

And then, there were aliens. For Christ’s sake, there were freaking aliens! Aliens with their crazy stories and exploding houses! Aliens were real! How did this happen? He almost died tonight. Derek almost died; they all almost died! And now, here he was, in someone else’s room that he had broken into and there was a freaking alien living in his head.

“What happened?” he asked, his voice mangled with helplessness. “Why did the house explode? Is that the danger you were talking about?”

“I don’t know,” answered Isaac, as gently as he could. “But, you saved them. They’re all okay; you’re okay. You did it.” He wasn't used to being the one giving the pep talks. In fact, it was the first time he had been without the others in longer than he could remember. Right now, all he had was Stiles, and all Stiles had was him.

“What do we do now?” Stiles asked, his voice still strained. 

“We wait,” Isaac answered.

Stiles rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and looked at the still bodies lying around him. “How long are they going to be like this?” he asked. 

“It could be a few days, maybe longer because of the trauma,” Isaac answered.

“How come I’m not like that?” Stiles asked, looking over at Derek’s slack-jawed face. He reached up and ran his fingers through the hair behind Derek’s ear as he tried to swallow around the lump in his throat.

“Bonding doesn’t affect me like it does the others,” Isaac said. “I guess it has to do with my abilities.”

Stiles nodded and let his arm drop. He closed his eyes and snuggled into Derek’s side as he groped for Derek’s hand, finding it wedged between them. Freeing it, he examined Derek’s long fingers, dirty and unresponsive. Cupping his palms over Derek’s hand, he breathed in Derek’s scent and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The light was too bright. Stiles’ eyes snapped open. Where was he? He realized he was sitting on the floor and that Derek was sitting on the floor next to him. He saw Scott, Allison and Jackson on the beds and he leapt to his feet, remembering where he was. Dashing across the room, he drew the curtains closed against the sunlight flooding in through the window.

“Good morning,” said Isaac.

“It wasn’t a dream,” Stiles gasped, a fistful of curtains bunched up in his hands.

“Nope,” Isaac replied.

Stiles made his way around the room, checking his friends. Everyone was intact; everyone was still breathing. None of them had a single scratch on them. He lifted Derek’s head from the wall and saw that the burn at the back of his head had healed, though the hair was still singed. Derek was going to be so pissed about that when he woke up.

“Well,” he said. “No injuries. Everyone’s a mess though. Are the others awake? They must be, right? For them to heal like that?”

“If any of them are, I can’t hear them, so at the very least Lydia’s not awake,” said Isaac. “Believe it or not, we don’t have much more experience with this than you do. This is pretty new for us, too.”

“Yeah, well, at least you knew about other worlds and living inside of other bodies and stuff,” he said as walked into the bathroom. “Yesterday, the only thing I was worried about was figuring out how I was gonna pay off my student loans after I graduate.” He worked up a lather with some soap and began washing the grime from his face.

“On the bright side, you may not have to worry about that anymore,” Isaac said, trying to be helpful.

“What do you mean?” asked Stiles.

“Well,” said Isaac, “It would be really easy to fake your own death right now.”

Stiles sputtered, sending soap foam all over the bathroom mirror. “What?! What are you talking about?”

“Think about it,” said Isaac, a little more excitedly than Stiles would have liked. “If you disappeared now, everyone would just think you died in the fire.”

“Why would I want to do that?” Stiles asked, shocked and confused. Why would Isaac suggest such a crazy idea?

“Something just tried to kill you,” Isaac explained. “Wouldn’t it be better if it thought you were dead?”

Stiles looked down and sighed, his arms braced against the sink. “I guess you have a point,” he conceded. He took a few deep breaths and looked up at the mirror. “I can’t think about this right now,” he said as he tried to wipe the foam off of the mirror with his hands.

Isaac decided to stay quiet for the moment. Stiles splashed some water on his face and wiped it with a facecloth. A quick inspection in the mirror showed that all of his cuts and scrapes from the night before were gone. He rinsed out the towel and took it back with him to check on the others, first kneeling down next to Derek. He wiped the soot from the back of Derek’s neck and the dirt from his face. Stiles felt his bottom lip beginning to tremble and he turned away from Derek and closed his eyes. He took a few quick breaths to calm his nerves.

“Pull it together man,” he whispered to himself. He finished cleaning Derek’s face and went back to the bathroom to rinse out the towel again. He took his time caring for his friends, trying to get rid of as much of the dirt and soot as possible. After he had wiped the last of it from Jackson’s face, he slowly lowered himself onto the edge of the bed and stared at the dirty facecloth in his hands. He folded it in half, then folded it again, then shook it out and started over, not really conscious of his actions as his mind raced. Isaac was probably right about the whole faking his death thing. He laughed to himself softly as he realized that Isaac was probably listening to his thoughts right now. He thought about his dad. Would he ever see him again? He would have to survive first, and even then… He let the thought trail off, not wanting to consider the possibility of never seeing his dad again.

He got up, walked to the bathroom, tossed the facecloth into the sink, and then sat down next to Derek. He lifted Derek’s arm and let it rest over his shoulders, the dead weight of it comforting even if Derek was, at the moment, unconscious. He pressed his ear to Derek’s chest and listened to his heart beating, a little faster than normal he thought, but still strong. He felt Derek’s chest rise and fall as he slumbered away, letting the rhythms of Derek’s heart and breath lull him into an trancelike state. _I just need to rest for a little bit_ , he thought to himself, closing his eyes.

When he opened them again, night had fallen. 

“Why am I so tired?” he asked as he stretched. “I thought bonding wasn’t supposed to affect you?”

“I’m not immune to it,” answered Isaac. “We used a lot of energy yesterday. I don’t normally have to escape from burning buildings and run around carrying a bunch of people all the time.”

Stiles stood up and stretched. “Do you think it’s safe to go outside?” he asked.

“Probably not,” Isaac answered. “Don’t you think we should keep an eye on your friends?”

“We’ll only be gone for a bit.” Stiles replied, ending the discussion. “I need to see the house.”

Stiles cracked the door open and peeked outside. There was no one out there. Stepping through the doorway as quickly as he could, he closed the door behind him, took a quick breath, then zipped down the stairs. The brisk night air rushed past him as he ran; he almost felt like he could fly if he wanted. Unlike the night before, he allowed himself to revel in the speed and the freedom that Isaac’s abilities granted him. He came up to a brick wall and vaulted over it easily, laughing as he grabbed the edge of the roof of the building on the other side and swung himself onto the rooftop. He made his way across, careful not to make any noise, and leapt to the ground on the other side.

He arrived at the house in mere seconds and decided to hide in the neighbor’s bushes again. The smell of smoke was heavy in the air as he stared at the burned-out shell of the house. There were two dogs barking at each other in the distance, but there was no one around. He rose from his hiding place, crept up to the doorway and slipped inside. The floor was wet. Everything was black and the smell of burned plastic threatened to overwhelm him. He looked at the stairs, but knew better than to try them. He doubted there was anything left to salvage anyway. With one last look, he stepped through the doorway and ran out into the night.

Feeling like he had already been away too long, he went directly back to the dorm. He stopped as he passed his own room and reached into his pocket instinctively to pull out his key. Quickly unlocking the door, he stepped inside. His messenger bag was on the chair. He grabbed it and dumped the textbooks out onto his desk. Opening one of the drawers, he grabbed the expensive digital camera his dad had sent him for his birthday, and tossed it into the bag. They could pawn it later if they needed cash. He flipped the monitor of his laptop closed and shoved it into the bag as well, then threw in his iPod for good measure.

Tossing the bag onto the bed, he reached underneath the bed for the old tennis shoes he didn’t use anymore. Throwing the left shoe to the side, he reached into the toe of the right one and pulled out his emergency cash. He quickly counted out the two hundreds and four twenties, then shoved the bills into his pocket; it wasn’t going to get them very far. He rummaged through his clothes, and grabbed a few of his shirts and a pair of jeans, adding them to his already over-burdened messenger bag. Buttoning down the flap, he set the bag on his bed.

He found his backpack in the closet and gathered a few more clothes, though not enough to make it look like anything was missing. He was about to leave when he spotted his jacket hanging from the doorknob of the bathroom. He threw it on, put the backpack on over it, shouldered the messenger bag and finally grabbed one of his beanies and put it on his head. After easing the door closed and locking it as quietly as he could, he jogged over to the other room and let himself in.

Everything was exactly as he left it; he couldn’t have been gone for more than ten minutes. Putting the bags down, he took the jacket off and laid it over Derek’s sleeping form. He pulled the blanket out from underneath Scott and Allison, and draped it over them, then did the same for Jackson.

“What time is it?” asked Isaac.

Stiles looked at his watch. “Just past three,” he answered. “Why?”

“The girls in Allison’s dorm should be asleep, right?”

“I guess,” he said, not really paying attention.

“And, you know where she lives, right?” Isaac continued.

“Yeah, why?” asked Stiles, confused now.

“You should probably get all of the stuff she might need out of her room, too, like you did with yours. We’re gonna need things, and your stuff isn’t going to be enough. And, we need to start getting ready to leave; I don’t know how long we’re gonna be safe here. We need to be ready to go as soon as everyone has recovered.”

Stiles looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. “My life is never going to be the same again, is it?”

“Probably not,” answered Isaac. 

Stiles pulled back the blanket and found Allison’s key in one of her pockets. He arranged the blanket back over them then slipped back out into the night. He ran in a different direction this time, towards Allison’s dorm. All of the lights were out when he got there. Having come to visit her at her dorm on several occasions, he was familiar with way to her room: up the stairs, second door on the left. The dorm was quiet and he made sure his footsteps were inaudible, even against the laminate floor. 

He unlocked the door to her room, stepped inside and shut the door behind him. Grabbing her backpack off the floor, he pulled the textbooks and spiral notebooks out and put them on the bed, leaving her laptop inside. He found her jewelry box and dumped its contents into the backpack, not knowing what was valuable and what was not. Placing it carefully back on the dresser, he closed its little drawers and tried to make it look like it had not been disturbed. He scratched his head, not really sure where to proceed from that point.

“Don’t girls always hide stuff in their underwear drawers?” asked Isaac.

“I guess so,” answered Stiles. “How do you even know that?”

Isaac stayed silent.

Stiles paused. “I don’t know about this…” he said, not sure how Allison would feel about him rifling through her underwear.

“You already broke into her room,” Isaac pushed. “She won’t mind, trust me. You all have way bigger thing’s to worry about.”

“Fine,” answered Stiles, wondering how long it would be before he grew weary of the disembodied voice that only he could hear.

He began pulling open the drawers until he found her underwear. Sure enough, there was a small, black velvet box tucked into one of the back corners. He opened it and found a pair of diamond earrings inside. Sighing sadly, he closed the box and dropped it into the bag. 

“You should grab some of that stuff too,” said Isaac.

“Oh yeah, right,” Stiles replied as he took a handful of her underwear and shoved it into the backpack.

On top of that, he added a pair of her jeans, a couple of her shirts and a sweater, then zipped it closed.

“I think that’s it,” said Stiles as he pulled one of the straps over his left shoulder. “I won’t be able to find much else without tearing her room apart.”

“At least bring the poor girl a jacket,” said Isaac.

Stiles looked around and saw a jacket hanging from a rack on the back of her door. He grabbed it, as well as the scarf that was hanging beneath it for good measure. “Anything else?” he asked.

“No,” answered Isaac, almost sad that their night of thievery was coming to an end. “We should probably get back.”

“Yes, we should,” Stiles said, as he left the room. Creeping silently to the stairs, he made his way down and then exited the building. He jogged back to the house, not really worried that anyone would see him, given that is was already so late and the middle of the week.

Back at the room, he added the backpack to the other two bags already on the floor and threw the jacket and scarf on top. He took off his beanie and tossed it onto the desk as he sank down next to Derek. Using Derek’s shoulder as a pillow, he stared out into the darkness of the room.

After a few moments of silence, he spoke. “What was it like?” he asked Isaac. “Before all the fighting started.”

Isaac thought for a moment before answering, “It was beautiful. Leesi was like Earth I think, for the most part. But, all I really know about Earth is what I’ve seen on TV,” he admitted. “We were only here for two or three days before Melissa found the house and told us we needed to stay there. We never left it after that, until now.”

“How long ago was that?” Stiles asked, his eyelids growing heavy.

“I’m not really sure,” Isaac answered. “I slept through most of it. It gets pretty boring being trapped in a house for that long. We all slept a lot to pass the time. Well, all of us except for Erica. I don’t think she went to sleep once. She couldn’t bring herself to stop watching all of the people living in the house.”

“Is that normal?” Stiles yawned.

“I guess,” said Isaac. “We only really need to sleep when we’re in a body. I know you haven’t had a chance to get to know her yet, but Erica doesn’t get bored easily. It must have something to do with her being an empath. Things are always so much more exciting or dramatic for her because she can feel what everyone else is feeling. But, it’s also what makes it so easy for her to connect with people. She had so many friends! We were overrun with little girls at the palace sometimes,” he said with a laugh. “There must have been over a hundred of them at her fiftieth birthday party.”

Stiles nodded, but did not respond.

“You should probably get some more sleep,” Isaac suggested as Stiles’ breathing fell into a slow and steady rhythm, lulling Isaac to sleep as well.


	8. That Awkward Moment when Someone Catches You Doing Something Weird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles has a run-in with someone he knows, and she is beyond unreasonable about what's going on.

Stiles opened his eyes at what sounded like someone trying to turn the doorknob. It was still early morning, but the room was bright. He remained still as the door swung open, revealing an athletic young black woman wearing a purple and black running suit. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and she had a three-pound dumbbell in each hand. He sighed in relief and stood up when he recognized her. It was Braeden, one of the girls that lived on his floor. She also happened to be in his English composition class.

“Hey, Braeden,” he said, looking around at all the sleeping bodies. “I know this looks weird, but I can explain.”

Her expression did not change, but she brought up her leg and gave him a swift kick to the abdomen, sending him flying across the room where he crashed next to Derek. 

“What are you doing?” coughed Stiles, as he stood up holding his stomach.

“I don’t think that’s your friend,” said Isaac, as she approached them, her face still blank. 

Her right arm swung around in a deadly arc, with the dumbbell heading straight for his temple. Stiles grabbed her arm, pulled and twisted, slamming her facedown onto the floor. She quickly rose on all fours and kicked out behind her, catching Stiles in the stomach again, sending him crashing to the floor between the two beds.

“Come on, man!” yelled Isaac. “You’re faster than her; she should not be getting through your guard like this!”

“Why is she acting like this?” asked Stiles as he staggered to his feet. “I know her; she’s in my class!”

Braeden was on her feet now. She took a step towards him, then spun around, aiming a roundhouse kick at his head. He brought his arms up in time to block, but the blow still toppled him into the bed with Allison and Scott. Allison made a small moan. Stiles looked quickly to her face and saw her eyelids flutter.

“Crap,” he muttered.

Stiles jumped to his feet as Braeden swung at him again with the dumbbell. He deflected it and jabbed her in the face, her head snapping back, then gave her a high kick to her breastbone. She staggered backward, hitting the wall behind her. 

“Braeden!” he yelled. “What are you doing? What’s wrong with you?” He had his fists in front of his face, ready to fight back this time if she tried anything.

Braeden steadied herself and looked directly at him, her face completely expressionless. She launched herself at him, and he suddenly found dumbbells flying at him from every direction as she tried to score a hit. He deflected blow after blow, finally causing her to stumble and lose her balance. He punched through the hole in her defense and caught her square in the chest, sending her into the wall again.

“You need to actually fight her!” yelled Isaac. “Why are you holding back? She’s not gonna stop!”

“I don’t know!” answered Stiles, still seeing her as the girl from his class. “What if I hurt her?”

“That’s kind of the point!” screamed Isaac. “If you haven’t noticed, she’s going for killing blows. If she catches you in the temple with one of those weights, it’s over!”

“But, why is she doing this?” asked Stiles confused, jumping back from one of Braeden’s kicks. 

He heard a gasp and turned around. Allison had the covers held up to her chin and was watching Braeden, her eyes opened wide. He turned around just in time to see Braeden wind up her arm like she was a baseball pitcher and throw one of the dumbbells with all of her strength. Stiles ducked, but she wasn’t aiming for him. Allison yelped and pulled the covers up in time to shield herself, the dumbbell bouncing off of the taut material and falling to the floor.

Stiles looked up in time to see the other dumbbell flying at his face, but he reached out and grabbed it out of the air. Braeden lurched for the door, her head bent low, as time seemed to slow.

“Stop her!” ordered Isaac. “You can’t let her get away! There could be others; she could tell them where we are!”

After a split second of indecision, Stiles quickly closed the gap between them, clasped his hands together with the dumbbell in between and brought them down like a club on Braeden’s back. She collapsed to the floor as time resumed its normal pace. He heard frightened panting behind him, and turned to look at Allison. Her bright eyes were peeking out from over the edge of the covers. 

“What’s going on?” she asked as she noticed Scott lying next to her and Jackson in the other bed.

Stiles let the dumbbell fall to the floor and closed the door, hoping no one would come to investigate the noise. He walked over to Allison and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“We’re in trouble,” he began.

“You could say that again,” said Isaac.

“Would you just be quiet for a little bit?” Stiles snapped.

“What?” asked Allison, cringing a little behind the covers.

“No,” replied Stiles, reaching for her. “Not you, it’s Isaac. In my head. I can’t think straight when he’s talking.”

“Isaac’s talking in your head?” asked Allison, confused.

“Yeah, can’t you hear one of them inside of you?” asked Stiles, looking down at her with his hand on her shoulder. He wondered if the alien inside of Allison could still be asleep.

“I’m right here,” said Erica.

“Did you hear that?” asked Allison.

“Hear what?” Stiles asked, looking towards the door.

“It was Erica,” Allison answered. “She said, ‘I’m right here.’ You didn’t hear her?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Did you hear her Isaac?” he asked.

“No,” Isaac answered. “Now that we’re in your bodies, the only way we’ll be able to communicate with each other is through Lydia. I think it’s safe to say she’s not awake yet.”

“So, what do we do now?” asked Stiles.

“There’s not much that we can do right now,” Isaac answered. “It’s the middle of the day and you have three unconscious people here, well, four actually if you count Braeden. It would look pretty strange if you and Allison went walking through the school carrying them.”

Allison, not able to hear Isaac, continued to stare at Stiles. She could tell he was listening to Isaac, and she didn’t want to interrupt, but she was scared and still had no clue what was going on. She suddenly realized she could feel his fear and his weariness. She knew he was weighing options, even if she couldn’t tell what the options were, and somehow she was able to sense that he felt like he might not be able to do what he needed to do.

“It’s okay, Stiles,” she said, placing her hand on his arm. “We’ll figure this out together.”

Allison’s touch pulled him out of his reverie. He looked at her, surprised that she would be trying to comfort him, having just woken up to a pretty scary situation and knowing nothing of what had happened over the last two days. He put his hand over hers, and patted it twice.

“You have no idea how happy I am that you’re awake,” he said, his voice cracking.

Allison made room for him to sit down on the bed and hugged him as he explained what he had been through while the rest of them had been asleep. She stroked his hair as he told her about running from the house because of the explosion and then having to go back to rescue them. He sat up straight to look her in the eyes, but still held her hand as he continued his story, telling her about breaking into her room, pointing to her backpack on the floor.

“Wow,” said Allison, having practically relived the entire experience with him as his emotions flooded through her. “You’ve been through a lot the last couple of days.” Erica’s ability was going to take some getting used to.

She glanced at Braeden’s body on the floor. “So, what’s her story?”

Stiles turned to look at Braeden. “I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “I woke up a few minutes ago because I heard her coming into the room.” He turned to look at Allison. “She just attacked me,” he said, his eyes wide. “I didn’t know what to do. Isaac said I couldn’t let her get away, that there might be others and that she would lead them to us.”

“Others?” asked Allison. 

Stiles shrugged and shook his head, just as confused as she was.

“She had no emotions,” Erica informed her. “Whatever she is, she isn’t human.”

“Not human?” Allison asked.

“No human could get into a fight like that and remain completely emotionless, especially one who was fighting someone they knew,” Erica explained. “She should have been scared, or angry, or panicked. Even a trained killer would feel something, like confidence or something, but she didn’t feel anything. She had no emotions at all, like she was empty.”

Allison nodded. “Erica says that Braeden didn’t have any emotions.”

“What does that mean?” asked Stiles.

Allison shrugged.

“Have you ever seen anything like this?” Stiles asked, hoping either Isaac or Erica would answer.

“If this is what happened on our planet, we wouldn’t know,” Isaac replied. “We were pretty sheltered at the palace.”

“Empaths are extremely rare,” said Erica, “even among our kind. I’ve personally never seen anything like that before, and I’ve never heard of it either.”

“Isaac doesn’t know anything,” Stiles told Allison.

“Erica either,” she replied. “What are we going to do with her?” she asked, looking at Braeden.

Stiles stood up and walked over to Braeden, looking down at her with his hands on his hips. He shook his head sadly.

“She’s gonna wake up eventually. Maybe we can ask her some questions,” he said, thinking out loud.

Allison got out of bed and stood next to him, putting his body between her and the body on the floor. “We should probably tie her to something,” she suggested.

Nodding, Stiles picked Braeden up off of the floor and placed her in one of the chairs. 

“It’s weird watching you move,” said Allison. “First, when you were fighting her, you were moving so fast, I could barely see you, especially at the end.” Stiles turned to look at her as she continued, “And just now, when you were putting her into the chair. It was like you were carrying a little girl instead of a full-grown woman.”

Stiles smiled sadly. “Yeah, we’re all a little different now.”

“Yeah,” Allison said, echoing him. She walked over to the bed that Scott was in and rolled him over, surprising herself at how easy it was. She pulled the sheet out from under him, wondering if there were any scissors in the room.

“You shouldn’t have a problem ripping that,” Erica’s voice sounded in her head.

Allison frowned as she grabbed the edge with her hands and began to rip. She laughed a little at how easily she was able to tear it into strips. It wasn’t as easy as tearing a sheet of paper, but she would never have been able to tear a bed sheet like that before the bonding. Stiles grabbed half of the sheet and began tearing it into strips as well. It seemed to be much easier for him.

“He has Isaac’s abilities,” Erica explained. “Isaac is faster and stronger than we are. That’s why you were having trouble following his movements when he was fighting Braeden.”

Allison watched as Stiles tied Braeden’s arms to the chair. She crouched down and started tying Braeden’s legs to the chair’s legs. “How secure do you think we need to make her?” she asked, as she finished tying up Braeden’s right leg.

“I don’t know,” Stiles answered. “But, I’m not taking any chances.” He took more strips and tied one of them around Braeden’s waist and the chair.

Allison walked over to Jackson, rolled him over, and pulled out his sheet. Tearing it into strips, she dumped them onto Braeden’s lap. She walked over to Scott and rolled him onto his back. His face felt rough against her finger as she traced his jaw line, with two days' worth of stubble and grime from the explosion. Leaning down, she kissed him on the forehead.

“I need you to wake up,” she whispered desperately, her lips close to his ear. “I’m so scared.”

She took a deep breath and kissed his forehead again before she stood up and went into the bathroom. Noticing the dirty facecloth in the sink, she worked some soap into it and rinsed it out as best she could. With a razor, shaving cream and the damp facecloth in her hands, she walked back to Scott and sat down next to him. She wiped his face with the cloth, then gently applied a thin layer of shaving cream. His face was so serene as she wondered about how long it would be before he woke up. She worked carefully, not really having any experience shaving a man’s face, but figured it couldn’t be much different from shaving her legs. She smiled at the thought of him waking up mid-shave.

“Why are you doing that?” Erica asked, focusing on Scott’s face almost as intently as Allison was.

Allison shrugged. “Scott doesn’t like having stubble,” she answered. “He’ll feel better when he wakes up if he doesn’t look like a mountain man.” She laughed a little at her description. Wiping the razor off on the towel, she continued shaving. “This is the only thing I can do to take care of him right now,” she said, almost too softly to hear.

“Are you going to do this to the others as well?” Erica asked.

Allison looked over at Jackson, then down at Derek, and nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.” She turned her attention back to Scott.

Stiles worked silently, realizing that Allison was probably talking to Erica. He had used almost every single strip to tie Braeden to the chair and she now bore an uncanny resemblance to a mummy, except that he had left her head uncovered. He stood up, admiring his handiwork, then turned to Allison. As he watched her shaving Scott, he realized he may have been remiss in his duties to the three guys. To be fair, there had been a few more pressing matters to deal with. He knelt down and felt Derek’s stubble, really more of a beard now, with the back of his hand. He reached up to his own face and felt the stubble there, deciding to give himself a quick shave as well. 

Finding another razor by the sink, he smeared some shaving cream on his face, and began to shave. He flinched when he nicked himself on the chin and wiped the foam away from the area, turning it pink. The cut was tiny, but his eyes grew wide as he watched the edges of the wound pull together and close. Leaning in towards the mirror, he rubbed the area again, but the skin was completely smooth, all traces of the cut gone.

He stretched the skin with his fingers as he turned his head to the right and to the left to see if it would reopen, but it remained intact. “Humph,” he said, looking at the spot in the mirror. “Well, that’s cool, I guess.”

When he finished shaving, be brought the razor and shaving cream into the room with him, and knelt down next to Derek again. He pumped a small mound of shaving cream into his hand and spread it over Derek’s face. Derek usually let his stubble grow for a while, but Stiles figured he should shave him now, while they had the chance. He couldn’t believe how much things had changed. He had been awestruck by Derek’s presence the first time he saw him in their photography class. Derek was only an inch or so taller than he was, but he looked like he had stepped off of the cover of a fitness magazine. He admired Derek’s chiseled features as he shaved him, remembering the surprising warmth he saw when their eyes had met for the first time. Those eyes were closed now, his strong body limp and unmoving.

Always when he had looked at Derek, he thought about how Derek would be able to protect him, and how Derek made him feel safe. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was that he needed protecting from; he certainly would have never imagined he would be in the situation he was in now. But, knowing Derek was there had always been comforting.

Apparently, he was the strong one now. Derek couldn’t even shave himself in the state he was in. His heart ached as he imagined the possibility of losing him. He had known him for such a short time. Vowing to himself that he would never let anyone hurt him, he wiped the last of the shaving cream from Derek’s face with his hands. 

Allison could feel the waves of emotion coming off of Stiles and she smiled to herself. She wondered how her relationship with Scott would change now that she had Erica’s abilities. Scott would never be able to lie to her, and she wondered if that was a necessarily a good thing. Not that she was ever able to stay mad at him. She smiled warmly as she placed her palm on his cheek. He had never really done anything to seriously upset her, so she didn’t quite know how she would react if he ever did.

When she was finished, she moved over to Jackson. As she was shaving him, she heard a splash of water behind her. She turned to find Stiles hunched over with his face next to Braeden’s, her face dripping water. Stiles had an empty plastic cup in his hand. He reached out and began patting her firmly on the cheek.

“Wake up!” he said, angrily. When Braeden didn’t respond, he slapped her harder.

“Stiles!” exclaimed Allison, shocked. She had never seem Stiles act in any way that was motivated by anger before, and the rage she felt emanating from him scared her. “What are you doing?” she asked, afraid of what he might say.

“We need to talk to her, find out what she’s doing here,” he answered, not looking away from Braeden, whose head was still drooping down towards her chest.

“Well, you’re not gonna wake her up by slapping her around!” she insisted. “Go sit down next to Derek and cool off. Let me finish up here with Jackson, and we’ll think of something.”

Stiles did as he was told and scowled as Allison finished shaving Jackson’s face.

“I’m sorry,” he said, as she walked past him, bringing the razor to the bathroom. “I don’t know why I did that.”

Allison sat down next to him. “I do,” she said, as she rubbed his shoulder. “You’re scared and angry and you want answers. I can feel everything that you feel now.”

“So how are we gonna wake up Sleeping Beauty over there,” he asked, nodding his head in Braeden’s direction.

Allison shrugged. “I don’t know; you got any smelling salts?”

Stiles laughed. “What, they don’t still put that in first aid kits, do they?”

Allison smiled at him and shrugged again. “Who knows? I don’t have a first aid kit, do you?”

“No,” he replied. “I thought you were gonna help me wake her up?” 

“I was just trying to get you to stop hitting her,” she said, laying her head on his shoulder. “I was really worried about you for a second. You were so angry.”

Stiles looked down. “I know.” He sighed and leaned his head against hers. “I’m sorry. The last few days. . .” He trailed off and paused for a moment. “I don’t know how I did it all.” 

“I know,” Allison replied. “But, I’m here now. You’re not alone anymore, and I’m sure we’ll figure out a way to get through this.”

They were quiet for a moment and Allison could feel Stiles’ emotions subside. Stiles looked over at Derek and touched the tip of Derek’s nose, smiling sadly at his unresponsive face. Allison looked over at him.

“You really love him, don’t you?” she asked.

He laughed. “Yeah,” he said, looking down and nodding. “Yeah, I think I do.” He looked at her asking, “How did that happen? I kind of thought I was beginning to like him. You know, _like him_ , like him. But, I never thought he would think of me like that. I mean, look at him. He’s perfect. What does he see in me?”

Allison laughed, got up and mussed his hair. “Guys can be so dense sometimes. Do you have any idea how long it took for him to work up the nerve to tell you how he felt about you? Scott and Jackson and I have been hounding him about it for over a month!” 

Suddenly, she was stumbling backwards into the wall with her hands over her mouth, gasping. Stiles leapt to his feet.

“What is it?” he asked, tracking her gaze as she pointed.

Braeden was awake, her face as expressionless as ever, staring straight in ahead of her. Stiles frowned and stood in front of her, leaning so that his face was at the same level as hers, though he kept his distance this time.

“Now it’s time to get some answers,” he said, looking into her vacant eyes. “Allison, do you feel anything?”

“No, nothing,” Allison answered. “I don’t feel anything at all.”


	9. You're Weird, but Inside You're Even Weirder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not all aliens are created equal, and the one inside of Braeden has teeth.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Stiles asked angrily, not really expecting Braeden to respond.

Braeden continued to look straight ahead as if Stiles had not spoken. He almost got the impression that she wasn’t even aware that he was standing in front of her.

“This is kind of creepy,” Isaac commented.

“Yeah, you think?” he replied, looking over to Allison. “Still nothing?”

Allison shook her head, afraid to come any closer.

“Okay, we need to try something,” said Erica. “Allison, I need you to be brave and stand next to Stiles. Don’t be scared; he’ll protect you.”

Allison nodded and crossed the five feet to stand next to him.

“All right,” Erica continued. “Now I need you to hold his hand.”

Allison kept her eyes on Braden as she reached blindly for Stiles’ hand. He looked down at her hand curiously as her fingers closed around his, only understanding what was happening when he felt energy flowing down his arm and into Allison.

“Now, put your hand on her forehead,” Erica instructed.

Allison reached out slowly, but jerked her hand back just before she making contact. After taking a deep shaky breath, she reached out again and pressed her palm to Braeden’s forehead. Braeden did not respond. Allison stood very still, concentrating on the emotions around her. As her senses expanded, she began to feel the students in the other rooms, and even caught some of the wild, primal flashes of emotion from some birds that were flying by. Stiles and Isaac’s emotions loomed large at her side, threatening to obscure everything else. She concentrated, blocking everything around her, narrowing her focus on Braeden. As she searched for some kind of emotion, any hint of who or what Braeden might be, she felt like she was falling, drifting slowly as she sank into a deep well of night. Braeden felt hollow, as if Allison were holding her hand against a cardboard box or a glass jar. Suddenly, as if she had been bitten, she gasped and pulled her hand to her chest as Erica shrieked inside of her.

“Erica! Are you okay?” she asked frantically.

“Yes, I’m fine. It just surprised me, that’s all,” Erica answered, a hint of defiance in her voice.

“What’s wrong?” asked Stiles.

“It’s okay. She just got scared,” Allison answered, relieved.

“What happened in there?” Stiles pressed, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“Well, first there was nothing. Just nothing; I don’t know how else to describe it,” she said, shaking her head. “But then, I felt something. It was tiny. I almost didn’t notice it; because it was so small. But, it was there. I tried to get closer, but it was hard because it was so deep inside her. For a second, I thought I could feel fear and confusion, but then it was gone.” She turned to Stiles, talking faster now, “The next thing I knew, there was this image of teeth snapping up at me!”

“Teeth?” Stiles asked, shocked. He heard Isaac echo him in surprise.

“Yeah, teeth,” Allison confirmed, nodding. “It was like a rat’s jaws, or something, no body, no fur, no lips, just teeth snapping at me like this,” she said, making biting motions with her hand at his face.

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t see it,” he replied, leaning away from her hand.

They heard a moan behind them, followed by, “Where am I?”

They both turned around to find Jackson sitting up with a dazed look on his face, and they rushed to his side. Allison threw her arms around him.

“You’re awake!” she exclaimed, hugging him tight.

He looked confused, but hugged her back. “Yeah, yeah, I am awake,” he said sounding annoyed. He coughed. “Could somebody get me some water?” He looked around and asked, “Where are we?” His eyes went wide when he noticed Braeden. “Who the hell is that? And, why is she tied to a chair?”

Stiles walked into the bathroom to get a glass of water as Allison began filling Jackson in on the last couple of days. He met her gaze on occasion, but kept his eyes on Braeden for the most part. Braeden kept her eyes on the door. 

Stiles returned with the water. “So, which one did you end up with?” he asked as he handed the glass to Jackson.

Jackson took a long swallow before answering. “I don’t know. Hello? Is there anyone in there?”

“It’s me Jackson,” said Lydia. She had established a connection with each of them, so they all heard her. “Hello everyone, it’s good to see you all again.”  
“Finally,” said Isaac, sounding relieved. “We can just talk now without Allison and Stiles having to repeat everything we say.”

“It wasn’t so bad,” Erica commented. 

“So that leaves John and Melissa,” Stiles commented, his gaze drifting to Derek and whichever alien might be inside of him.

“I suppose our first order of business is figuring out who our friend Braeden might be,” said Lydia as Jackson got up for a closer look.

“Can you connect to her mind?” asked Isaac. “Allison and Erica tried to get a read on her a little while ago. They saw teeth.”

“Teeth?” asked Lydia in surprise.

Allison cringed as Erica thought cast an image of the teeth to everyone.

“That’s messed up,” commented Jackson. “How could that be inside of her?”

“Maybe that _is_ her,” said Lydia. “It’s strange that you saw an image. I thought your ability was limited to feeling what others felt. Have you ever seen anything like that before, Erica?”

“No, I’ve never seen an image before,” Erica replied. “But, I know those teeth were angry.”

“We need Melissa and John,” said Isaac. “Are they awake yet?”

“No,” answered Jackson. “We tried to connect with them, but we couldn’t.”

“They’ll probably wake up when Derek and Scott do,” added Lydia. “We can’t wait for them, we need to deal with this now.”

“What should we do?” asked Stiles.

“Well, I think I should try to link with her mind,” Lydia said. “I’ll need you all to help.”

“All right, I survived the first time, I can go in there again,” said Erica as Allison took a deep breath to steady her nerves. 

Jackson was already standing in front of Braeden. Stiles stood next to him and held his hand; Allison grabbed on to Stiles’ other hand.

“Is everyone ready?” asked Lydia.

Stiles and Allison nodded.

Lydia was quiet for a moment, then continued, “Jackson, place your hand on her forehead.”

Jackson reached out slowly, sure Braeden was going to move at any moment. He was about to make contact when a loud shout caused Allison to yelp and drop Stiles’ hand.

“Stop!” yelled Derek, rising unsteadily to his feet.

“You can’t do that Lydia,” said Melissa. “The creature knows too much about us already.”

“She’s right,” said Derek. “I felt it too. The creature is stuck inside of her. If you link our minds to it, it’ll break free and bring others.”

Just barely resisting the urge to burst into tears, Stiles walked up to Derek, wrapped his arms around his waist and buried his head in his chest. 

“You can’t leave me alone like that,” he said, his voice muffled by Derek’s shirt. Derek felt Stiles’ body trembling.

Derek looked at him with mild surprise and smiled, stroking Stiles’ hair. “I would never leave you of my own free will,” he whispered into Stiles’ ear, his cheek caressing the side of Stiles’ head.

Stiles hugged him tighter. 

“Whoa, okay, that’s a little tight!” gasped Derek.

Stiles relaxed his grip, but didn’t let go. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

Derek laughed and patted the back of Stiles’ head. “It’s okay, I’m sorry too. I had no idea you were so strong!”

Stiles smiled into Derek’s shirt. “It’s a recent development,” he mumbled.

Derek chuckled softly and kissed Stiles on the temple.

“What are you guys doing?” 

Derek and Stiles both looked up to see Scott sitting up and smirking at them. As he was rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hand, Allison rushed to him, almost knocking him back down, grabbed his face with both of her hands and brought their lips together. At first, Scott’s eyes widened in surprised, but then he grabbed the back of her head and began kissing her back.

Allison wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. “Thank God! I thought you were never going to wake up!” Allison cried, hugging him close.

“Holy crap!” Scott scrambled out of the bed, pointing at Braeden. “Who is that?”

Stiles felt Isaac reaching out to Lydia. Images began flooding into all of their minds, starting from when Stiles rescued them from the fire. They saw Stiles carry them all to the room and the raids he did of his own and Allison’s rooms. Then, they saw him waking up to find Braden. At that point, Erica began adding her memories as well, until they reached the point that Derek and Scott woke up.

“Too bad school isn’t like that,” commented School with a crooked grin.

“That’s amazing, Stiles,” Derek said, smiling. “You really kicked her ass!”

Stiles looked up at Derek, just a tad smug with himself. “She didn’t stand a chance.”

“You did good,” said Jackson, with a bit more genuine respect than any of them had ever heard from him before. “Thanks, Stiles.”

“Yes, thank you,” added Melissa. “None of us would be alive right now if it wasn’t for you.”

“Hey! I helped too!” said Isaac said, sounding annoyed.

Erica laughed.

“Well, I’m glad everyone is all right,” said John, surprising them all. “But, we need to get back to the task at hand. We still have our guest to deal with. For all we know, that thing has been listening to the five of you talking this whole time and we cannot afford to have it learn anything more about us. You need to start communicating through Lydia. Just project your thoughts; we’ll all hear you as long as Lydia keeps us linked together.”

“We need to come up with a plan,” Melissa added. “We learned how to make people believe they were seeing us; we can figure out what to do here, too.”

“You said it was trapped inside of her,” Jackson thought cast to Derek. “What did you mean by that?” 

“It was just a flash,” answered Derek. “That’s what woke us up. When you tried to link with her, I got a premonition. There’s something inside of her, it’s trapped in there, and if you give it half a chance, it’s getting out.”

“I think it’s safe to say that this is what attacked our home,” added Melissa.

“So, they’ve finally found us,” said Lydia, her voice hollow.

“Does that mean Earth is next?” asked Allison.

“Your guess is as good as ours,” answered John. “But, if history is any kind of indicator, I would have to say yes.”

“But, you all have been here for years, right?” asked Allison. “Decades, right? Why are they just showing up now? Where have they been this whole time?”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” said Melissa. “We just don’t know. Whatever these things are, they destroyed fifteen worlds before following us to yours. Who knows how many before that? We don’t know what they are. We don’t know what they want or why they do it.” Her voice caught. “I’m so sorry. We didn’t mean to bring them here. We would never wish this on anyone.”

Allison sank onto the bed, and Scott sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders. Jackson sat on the other bed across from them, seemingly lost in thought. Derek and Stiles remained standing, just holding each other. Stiles buried his face in the crook of Derek’s neck and Derek rested his chin on Stiles’ shoulder, staring at the woman tied up in the chair. He only vaguely remembered her. He had only visited Stiles’ dorm on a few occasions, and guessed that John had used his abilities to make sure they spent most of their time at the house. 

He did not realize he was sharing his musings with everyone else in the room. Stiles reached out to him with his mind, sharing with him the few memories he had of Braeden. The impression that he had of her was of a vibrant, intelligent, and happy young woman. She enthusiastically participated in class discussions and wasn’t afraid to challenge the professor. She smiled a lot and usually left class walking with a friend or two, chatting and laughing as they headed off to whatever the next thing in their day was. Had it all been an act? How much did she know about them? Were there others like her at the school? Stiles shivered and Derek held him tighter. They could be anyone, anywhere. Any of their classmates, any of their professors. They couldn’t trust anyone.

“What are we going to do?” asked Erica finally, breaking the silence.

“I think we need to link our minds to it,” said Lydia.

“But, we can’t,” said Scott.

“No, not the way we were going to originally,” Lydia replied. “I know that was reckless and I apologize. I shouldn’t have put us in danger like that. But, now that we’re all awake, I think that we can figure out a safe way to do it.”

“Do you have an idea?” asked Melissa.

“Well, it’s like you said,” Lydia replied. “We figured out how to project images of ourselves. We did that by working together. And, with ten minds working together instead of just five, we have a better chance of pulling this off.”

“Ten minds?” asked Allison. “You mean us? What are we supposed to do?”

“You all have the same abilities that we do now,” answered Lydia. “You can feel what everyone else is feeling, right Allison?”

“I guess so,” said Allison. “But, I thought that was just Erica.”

“No, it’s you too, Allison,” explained Erica. “It’s true, I’m a part of you now, so you’ll feel whatever I feel, and I’ll feel whatever you feel, but ever since you woke up, you’ve been using the ability on your own. When you decided to focus your ability on Braeden and block out everything else, that wasn’t me. It was you. I started helping you out when I figured out what you were doing, but usually, our abilities will be separate from each other. Just wait. After a while, it’ll be second nature to you, and you’re going to be able to do some incredible things.”

“And, it’s the same for all of you,” said Lydia.

“So, what does that mean?” asked Scott. “What do you need us to do?” 

“We have to work as a team,” said Lydia. “We all have a part to play. I will establish a connection with Braeden and whatever is inside of her. Allison and Erica will track what Braeden and the creature are feeling. Isaac’s ability enhances the abilities of those around him. Now we have Stiles, so the effect will be doubled. They’re also fast, so they’ll be able to react to things before we can. With their abilities backing up Melissa and Derek, we should be pretty safe.”

“Normally, premonitions are unpredictable,” Melissa explained. “They happen randomly; certain events will trigger them. But, when Isaac is actively using his ability to bolster mine, it’s like I am constantly seeing one or two seconds into the future, sometimes more, but not much. It should be enough for us to maintain some degree of control of what we are trying to do, so there shouldn’t be any surprises.”

“How does this stop whatever it is that’s inside of her from learning about us?” asked Jackson.

“That’s where Scott and John come in,” answered Lydia. “They have the power of suggestion. Between the two of them, they should be able to prevent the creature from realizing what’s going on. Normally, the suggestions can only give people the feeling that they should or shouldn’t do something; they can’t really _make,/i > someone do something or believe something. But, as we discovered with the illusions we were able to create, Isaac’s ability makes the suggestions much more powerful. For a short time anyway.”_

_“What am I supposed to do?” asked Jackson._

_“I know you haven’t been awake for very long, but have you not noticed anything different about yourself, yet?” asked Lydia._

_Jackson thought for a minute. “No, I feel the same as I always do.”_

_“Are you sure?” asked Lydia._

_Jackson paused, confused, then nodded. “Yup, pretty sure.”_

_“So, tell me,” continued Lydia, sounding slightly amused. “What happened at your sixth birthday party?”_

_“How am I supposed to remember that?” asked Jackson._

_“Just give it a shot,” Lydia pushed._

_Jackson shut his eyes as the memories came flooding back to him._

_“The theme was Ninja Turtles,” he began. “My favorite Ninja Turtle was Michelangelo, so my mom made a chocolate cake for me decorated to look like him. She made her cream cheese frosting, ‘cuz she knew I didn’t like the pre-made stuff you buy at the store. We had Neapolitan ice cream.” His eyes opened wide as he continued. “My best friend, Danny, gave me a pack of baseball cards as a present. Our friend Boyd couldn’t make it because he had the chicken pox. My dad had to work that day, but he made it home before the party ended. He took me into the garage to show me the bike he and Mom got me.” He looked at Allison saying, “It was black, red, and silver, not the blue one that I wanted, but I didn’t care because there were all of these Ninja Turtle stickers on it. I loved it.”_

_“What was the weather like that day?” asked Lydia._

_“It was overcast. My mom was worried it was gonna rain, but it didn’t. It wasn’t cold, but she made me wear a sweater anyway. I picked my Ninja Turtle sweatshirt to match the theme of my party.”_

_“What was your mother wearing?” asked Lydia._

_“A white dress, with red cherries on it. She had a black headband in her hair, a red belt and red heels,” Jackson said, stunned. “Why do I remember all of this? Did you do this?” he asked._

_Lydia ignored his question. “What resolution was passed during the Six Thousand Forty Ninth Assembly of World Leaders regarding the legal status of Hedantics on the Gorshen home world?”_

_Without missing a beat, Jackson answered, “Magnate Kyrus brought forward a motion to recognize their independence from the imperial family after four thousand years of imperial rule. It was amended by Magnate Hermaleena of the Yarduli home world to go into effect one thousand years from that date if the motion passed. The motion passed with four hundred and seventy-eight votes, with only the imperial family of Gorshen voting against it.”_

_“What in the world did you just say?” asked Allison._

_“I have all this information in my head,” said Jackson, shocked. “I remember everything, I mean, literally everything! From the day I was born until now, it’s all there! Holy crap!” he exclaimed. “You read the entire palace libraries on five worlds?”_

_“I’ve been alive for a long time,” answered Lydia. “It helps pass the time. My other ability is perfect recall of everything I see and experience. You now know everything that I know, and I know everything that you know. Your knowledge now surpasses that of everyone on the entire planet combined and will continue to grow every single day. It will be your job to look for patterns when examining the creature inside of Braeden, while I maintain our connection. We need to see if anything about it matches anything that we’ve read or experienced before.”_

_“I guess we don’t have time to practice, do we?” asked Scott._

_“No, not really,” answered Lydia._

_“Do we just stand around her in a circle?” asked Stiles._

_“Yes,” answered Lydia. “Stand around her and join hands.”_

_They formed a circle around Braeden and held onto each other’s hands tightly, immediately feeling their senses sharpen as power flowed from Stiles and Isaac into the rest of them. Lydia reached out with her mind carefully, trying not to alert the being inside of Braeden. The entire time they had been planning, Braeden had not moved once or made a single noise, and Lydia was determined to find out why._

_She probed gently, gaining access to Braeden’s mind with surprising ease. It wasn’t a mind so much as it was the absence of one, which is what she had expected from Erica’s description. She dug deeper and was suddenly confronted with the teeth quickly rising up to intercept her. Isaac gave John a boost of power as he sent out the thought: _no one here, nothing going on_ , and the creature sank back down into the darkness. Lydia followed it, reaching out with her mind, barely brushing against it. It had been looking out through Braeden’s eyes the entire time, but it had not been able to understand anything that they said. Apparently, the creature did not speak English. It had tried to break free of its bindings earlier, but realizing that struggling would be pointless, it had decided to conserve its energy for when its situation changed. It had become alarmed when the five humans formed a circle around it and when it felt Lydia’s presence, but the suggestion had worked, and it was lying in wait for something to happen._

_“Try convincing it that we’ve left the room and that it’s broken free of its bindings,” said Lydia._

_Scott and John felt Stiles and Isaac come to assist them as they constructed the illusion, while Jackson made sure they got all of the details right. They made the creature see them leave the room. Then, they suggested that it might not have tried hard enough to break free when it first woke up. Lydia watched with satisfaction as the creature saw itself, as Braeden, rip through the strips of bedding, leap from the chair and run from the room. Derek and Melissa scrambled frantically to give them the information they needed to continue the illusion, while Erica and Allison stretched their senses to the limit, trying to pick up any kind of emotion from the creature. Looking through Braeden’s eyes, the creature saw itself look around for its captors. Not finding them, it ran back to Braeden’s room and sat quietly on the bed, where it seemed to be resting. Lydia could sense through the link that it was waiting for something._

_“Make it think that it’s time for whatever it is that it’s waiting for,” said Lydia._

_Scott and John did as they were instructed, and they watched as Braeden left her room and walked towards the library. She went to the second floor and went through the stacks to a table at the back. Using the creature’s expectations, Scott and John were able to construct the event as the creature anticipated it would unfold. Braeden was soon joined by three others, another girl with a dark complexion and straight black hair, a athletic looking young man with light brown hair, dressed like a typical frat boy, and an older balding man with gray hair wearing a tweed jacket. They did not speak, but the creature was somehow transmitting to the others information about what happened. When it finished, all four left the table and left the library, heading off in different directions._

_Scott felt himself growing weak; he and John could not keep up the illusion for much longer._

_“Make her think I ambushed her and knocked her out again,” suggested Stiles._

_That should be easy, John thought. If he was convincing enough, the beast would actually pass out. He and Scott made it think that it saw Stiles coming at it out of the corner of its eye. Before it could react, Stiles punched Braeden in the face and its mind went black. Lydia began to break the connection._

_“No, wait, there’s something else here,” said Allison._

_“Yes, it’s faint, but it’s here,” Erica added. “It’s the confusion that we felt earlier.”_

_“It’s not coming from the creature?” Melissa asked. “It could easily be confused by what just happened to it.”_

_“No, this is different,” Erica explained. “It almost feels human. Besides, that thing doesn’t have any emotions, at least none that I was able to feel.”_

_Lydia followed as Allison and Erica sank deeper into the darkness. Stiles and Isaac were almost tapped out, but they offered what energy they could. They closed in on a dense space that their thoughts could not penetrate, but the confusion and the fear were clearly emanating from somewhere inside of it._

_“Can you see if you can link to whatever’s in there?” asked Erica._

_“We’re all exhausted,” Lydia answered. “We don’t know what’s in there; it could be anything.”_

_“Erica’s right,” Allison insisted. “We need find out what it is.”_

_Lydia gathered up what was left of her strength and reached out through the darkness. She felt Jackson’s efforts interweave with hers as they plunged through the wall and made contact._

_“Hello? Who’s there?” asked a small and timid female voice._

_“Oh my God!” exclaimed Stiles. “I think that’s Braeden!”_


	10. When Someone Wants to Know You, but You Don't Want to Know Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chance encounter has Stiles running and scared.

Stiles’ presence came rushing through the link. “Braeden? Is that you?” he asked.

“Who are you?” she asked. “Where am I?” 

“It’s Stiles,” he replied. “We live on the same floor. We have English together. Do you know what happened to you?”

“This is a nightmare, right?” she asked. “I’m having a nightmare; I just need to wake up.” She began talking to herself, “Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up!”

“Braeden, stop it!” Stiles yelled at her. “This isn’t a dream! This is really happening!”

“Who are you?” she asked. “It’s so dark in here! I can’t feel anything! What’s going on?”

“It’s me Stiles!” he answered. “Do you remember me? From Dr. Deaton’s class.”

“Stiles?” she asked, sounding calmer.

“Yeah, Stiles,” he said soothingly. “I usually sit four or five rows behind you.”

“The kid with the glasses that always wears a beanie?” she asked.

“Yeah, that’s me!” he exclaimed.

“Do you know what’s going on? It’s so dark in here; I can’t see anything. Where are we?”

Not really sure how to answer her question, he asked her another instead, “How long have you been here?”

“I don’t know. I went to bed, I was falling asleep and all of a sudden I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t move, I couldn’t even open my eyes! Then I felt like I was falling and I ended up here. Where am I?” she asked, sounding like she was going to start crying.

“I’m not sure how to explain this, but I think we’re inside your head,” Stiles said.

Braeden was silent.

“Braeden?” Stiles asked. There was no answer.

“Is she still here?” he thought cast to the others through Lydia so that Braeden would not hear if she was still listening.

“Yes,” answered Erica. “I can still feel her.”

“She’s getting really scared, though,” said Allison. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Are you kidding?” Stiles exclaimed. “I have no idea what I’m doing!”

“Braeden?” he asked. “Braeden, are you there?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“How did you get in here?” she demanded, ignoring his question.

“Okay, that part is harder to explain,” he said.

“Try.”

“I have a friend that can link people’s minds together,” he answered.

“All right,” she said, sounding nervous and agitated. “Let’s say for a minute that I believe you. What are you doing here?”

“Braeden, you came into my room and attacked me,” Stiles explained. “We tied you up to a chair. That’s where you are right now.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “Why in the world would I attack you? You’re not making any sense! I don’t feel like I’m tied up to anything!”

“I told you, we’re inside your mind right now,” Stiles said as soothingly as possible, even though he knew his words were anything but soothing. “We’re trying to help you, but I need you to calm down.”

“We? Is your friend in here too? Where is he?” she asked, panic rising in her voice.

“She actually,” answered Lydia.

“Who are you?” Braeden asked. “I don’t recognize your voice.”

“We’ve never met. My name is Lydia,” she answered. John didn’t have much strength left, but he added a suggestion of trust.

“I’m losing my mind!” Braeden exclaimed. “I am losing my mind! Why is this happening to me? Aunt Claudette started hearing voices when she was in her sixties, right? I’m only twenty-three!”

“Braeden, you’re not going crazy. We’re here; I promise,” Stiles pleaded.

“That’s exactly what a hallucination would say,” Braeden commented, stubbornly. “No, I can’t talk to you anymore. Can’t acknowledge the delusion. That’s what Dr. Fenris said last week. Can’t talk to it. It’s not real.”

“Stiles, she’s really freaking out,” said Allison. “I think we should go.”

“We need to rest, anyway,” Isaac added. “We can’t doing anything for her right now.”

Stiles was silent as Lydia broke the connection. When they emerged from Braeden’s consciousness, they found her passed out in the chair. They all felt as tired as she looked.

“Hey, dude,” Scott said as he squeezed Stiles’ shoulder. “That was pretty rough. Are you okay?” 

Stiles nodded slowly, his eyes still on the sleeping girl in the chair. Derek put his arms around Stiles to steady himself and softly said, “You did the best you could. We’ll come up with a plan. Don’t worry; we’ll fix this.” He tried to stifle a yawn but failed. “I’m sorry, but I feel like I’m gonna pass out. I don’t know if I’m gonna make it to the bed.”

Stiles gave him a worried look. Derek smiled, his head drooping down to Stiles’ shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he managed to get out. “I think I just need a nap.” He staggered the few feet to the bed like he was drunk and fell face forward into it. He was asleep before his face hit the pillow. 

“Stiles,” Jackson said weakly.

Stiles turned in time to see Jackson wobble and start to fall. He caught him and lowered him gently to the ground, propping him against the wall where Derek had been sleeping less than an hour before. He found Scott and Allison collapsed in a pile on the floor.

“Great,” he spat out angrily, throwing his arms wide. “That’s just great!”

“It’s okay,” said Isaac. “They should all wake up soon. You remember how tired you were after waking up from the bonding and having to bring everyone to this room, right?”

“Yeah, so?” Stiles asked.

“It’s gonna take them a while to fully recover. That last thing with Braeden took a lot out of everyone. I’m a little surprised you’re still okay, to be honest with you,” Isaac explained.

Stiles sighed as he picked up Scott and Allison and put them back in the bed. 

“I’m hungry,” he said. “I’m gonna get some food. Do you think it’s safe to leave?” he asked.

“I think food is a good idea,” Isaac said. “You need to eat. They all do, too. None of you have eaten anything for over a day. Just be careful; you can’t let anyone recognize you, and make sure you don’t run into those other three that we saw when we were in Braeden's head.”

Stiles left the room, and made his way to the burger joint just off campus, careful to not get close enough for anyone to recognize him. It was the middle of the afternoon and there was hardly anyone eating inside, none of them college students. He walked up to the counter to place an order for six cheeseburgers, since Derek always ate two.

“Order an extra one for yourself, as well,” said Isaac. “You’re gonna need it.”

“Seven cheeseburgers to go, please,” Stiles said to the short college kid working the register, luckily no one that he recognized. His nametag said “Liam.”

“Do you want fries with that?” Liam asked, his finger hovering over the keypad. 

Stiles figured the others would need extra food as well. “Yes, please,” he answered.

“Seven?” Liam asked, as he started punching the keys.

“Uh, sure,” Stiles answered.

“Anything to drink?” Liam asked, looking up at him.

Stiles did a quick calculation in his head. At roughly five bucks a pop, the burgers put him at thirty-five, plus the fries, two dollars each, the drinks would be another two dollars apiece. He thought about how much money they had and decided they could drink water. “No, thanks,” he said, smiling. “Just the food.”

“All right,” said Liam, punching in the final button. “That will be $52.48.”

“Crap,” he thought to Isaac. “We need to start eating some cheaper food.”

Isaac remained silent as Stiles handed one of the hundred dollar bills to Liam.

“It should be about fifteen minutes,” Liam said as he gave Stiles his change.

Stiles took the money and thanked him before scooting into a booth. As he sat waiting for his food, a group of girls entered the restaurant, talking animatedly and laughing loudly at each other’s remarks. Stiles caught his breath when he recognized one of them. It was the girl that the creature inside of Braeden was supposed to meet in the library. She seemed to be the one that everyone else revolved around, with tiny red barrettes holding her long black hair away from her face. She did not look over to where Stiles was sitting. They all gathered in front of Liam and started calling out orders as he punched them into the register. The girl with the barrettes whispered something to one of her friends and they both laughed.

“What do I do?” Stiles asked Isaac.

“Just sit still. Maybe she won’t notice you,” Isaac answered.

Stiles looked at his watch, his right foot rapidly but silently tapping the floor. “It’s been eleven minutes.”

“Stay calm, we’ll be out of here in a little bit,” Isaac said.

Stiles clasped his hands in front of him, his thumbs twirling around one another as he tried not to shake.

“Number sixteen!” a guy called out from the counter, two medium-sized brown paper bags in front of him.

Stiles looked at his receipt. Number sixteen. He took a deep breath and got out of the booth, holding the receipt in his hand. He watched the girl out of the corner of his eye, but she ignored him. The guy at the counter gave him the food after he showed him the receipt. Nodding his thanks, he turned around and tried to walk calmly to the door.

“Wait!” the guy called out after him after he had taken three steps.

He froze, hoping he wasn’t visibly shaking. He turned around slowly and saw the guy at the counter holding up a handful of ketchup packets.

“You need ketchup?” he asked.

The girl was watching him curiously with large brown eyes. He shook his head no and continued walking. He took a quick glance over his shoulder as he left the restaurant and saw that the girl was still watching him, but she turned to her friends and started talking again when she noticed him looking at her. He took off as fast as he could once the door closed behind him, not caring if anyone saw. 

“Slow down!” Isaac ordered. “You’re drawing attention to yourself!”

“You saw her looking at me!” Stiles countered. “She knows!”

“You don’t know that!” Isaac said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Stiles said, panic coloring the edge of his voice. “We have to get back. Now!”

Once he rounded the corner, Stiles felt himself speed up to the point that time seemed to stop, zipping by cars and people all frozen in place like statues. It only lasted for a second of real time, but it was long enough for him to make most of the distance back to the dorm. There was no way he could have been followed. 

“You shouldn’t be wasting energy like this!” Isaac reprimanded.

“It’s not a waste if it keeps us alive,” Stiles said as he slowed to a jog. He jogged the rest of the way to the dorm room and shut the door behind him, finding himself once again in a room full of unconscious people.

Sitting down in the free chair, he set the bags down on the desk and wolfed down one of the burgers. He dug out another burger and a pack of fries and started to eat that too, but slower, his mind racing as he ate. He couldn’t remember ever being that hungry.

“You’re going to have to eat a lot more than before, just so you know.” Isaac said.

“Why?” he asked. Being able to hold conversation while also having a mouth completely full of food would have been funny if he wasn’t so scared.

“You can probably go a pretty long time without food now that I’m inside of you, but most of the time your body will be burning energy at an accelerated rate. Those calories need to come from somewhere,” Isaac explained.

Stiles nodded. It made sense, faster metabolism and all. He swallowed the last of the burger, not really tasting it, and ate the last fry. He grabbed another pack of fries from the bag and stood up, popping them in his mouth as he paced back and forth, glancing occasionally at everyone else in the room, but mostly at Braeden. When he finished the last French fry, he crumpled the small paper bag and tossed it in the trash. His watch read four o’clock.

“I’m going to let everyone sleep for now,” he said. “But, night comes, I’m gonna need at least one person to help me move everybody.”

“Where are we going?” asked Isaac.

“We can’t stay here,” Stiles said. “It’s not safe for us.”

“Where are we going?” Isaac repeated, slower and much louder this time.

“I don’t know!” Stiles yelled, putting his fists up to his forehead. “I’ll figure something out.”

“We can go look for a place while we wait for it to get dark,” Isaac suggested.

“No way! I’m not leaving them here alone all passed out like this. We can’t even lock the door!” He continued pacing. “Ugh!” he grunted as he sat down in a chair with his forehead on his fists and his elbows on his knees.

“Where am I?” he heard a voice ask weakly.

Stiles was startled to find Braeden’s head bobbing, like she was trying to wake herself up.

“Braeden?” he asked, getting up out of his chair.

“Hmm?” she mumbled. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought she was drunk. “Why am I tied up?” she whined.

“Braeden, can you understand what I’m saying?” he asked, lowering himself down so that he could try to look her in the eyes. Her eyelids were drooping as she struggled to open them.

“Stiles? Is that you?” she asked with a lopsided smile.

“Yes, it’s me!” he said, encouraged by her response. At least she was kind of acting human again. “Do you know what happened to you?” he asked.

“You came to visit me in my head!” she said, giggling at the thought. She was having a hard time holding up her head. Stiles was afraid she was going to fall back asleep.

“No, Braeden! I need you to stay awake!” he said, gently trying to lift her head with a finger under her chin. Her eyelids were almost closed.

She looked at him through half closed eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek. “Stiles, help me,” she said, barely loud enough. She locked her half-opened eyes on his for just a second before they fluttered closed.

“Braeden!” Stiles yelled as he shook her shoulders, causing her head to shake back and forth. “Braeden!” he yelled again, but it was no use. Stiles sank to his knees in front of her staring up at her drooping head. Her breathing was slow and steady.

“I can’t do this, Isaac,” he gasped.

“You have to,” Isaac said, firmly. “You’re the only one that can.”

Stiles looked down, defeated, and scooted backwards to the wall to sit next to Jackson. He checked his watch every few minutes, nervously waiting for the sun to go down. His heart raced every time someone walked past the door, expecting some possessed stranger to attack him again. 

He was tired, too, but sleep was the furthest thing from his mind. He concentrated on everything that he knew about the school and the neighborhood surrounding it, trying to think of abandoned buildings or houses, dorms that weren’t being used, anywhere but where they were right now. Part of the science building was under construction. He wondered if he could find a room that wasn’t being worked on yet to hide in. He remembered reading in the newspaper about a nearby apartment building that had been condemned. That might be better, but he didn’t know where it was.

The light gradually faded as the day passed by. He checked his watch again and saw that it was now six. Braeden hadn’t moved at all since she last spoke to him. Neither had anyone else. 

“Do you think I can try to wake them up now?” he asked.

“I think you should give them a few more hours at least. It doesn’t make any sense to wake them up now if you’re not leaving until later. Do you have a plan yet?” Isaac asked.

“No,” Stiles answered, curtly. 

Isaac let Stiles wallow in his self-pity for a while before speaking again. “You might as well do something useful while you wait.”

“What should I do?” Isaac asked.

“Well, you can’t carry Braeden around in that chair,” Isaac began. “You’re gonna have to untie her from the chair and then tie her up again without it so we can move her.”

Stiles pushed away from the wall and began working on the knots. They were really tight, but he wasn’t about to waste any of the material by tearing them off. He even had difficulty with the knots that Allison had tied, who had made no allowance for comfort in her fear after watching their fight. As fast as he was, it still took him a good half hour to untie them all. He quickly lowered Braeden onto her belly and tied her hands behind her back. Wrapping several of the strips of cloth around her torso, he bound her arms. He tied up her feet next, then tied her legs together at her knees. Braeden did not move at all during the entire process.

He pulled a blanket out from underneath Derek and rolled Braeden up inside of it with her head sticking out of one end. He used the remaining strips of bed sheet to secure the blanket around her, then flipped her onto her back. It was almost seven now, not quite dark yet.

“Okay, I can’t wait anymore,” he said. “I’m gonna wake them up now.”

“Well, you can certainly try,” Isaac replied with doubt in his voice.

Stiles ignored him and poked Derek’s shoulder. “Hey, big guy,” he said. “Please wake up. I need you.” He shoved him a few times, but Derek didn’t respond. 

He frowned and sighed, turning his attention to Allison. She was the first one to wake up last time. Maybe she would wake up now. He shook her gently. 

“Allison,” he said softly. “Al, come on. It’s time to get up.” He smiled in surprise when she began to blink her eyes slowly.

“Stiles? What time is it?” she asked while yawning and stretching. Suddenly remembering where she was and what was happening, her eyes shot open. “Where are we? What’s going on?” she asked frantically, looking around the room.

“It’s okay,” he said, smiling reassuringly at her. “You’re fine; everyone’s fine. You just passed out after the whole thing with Braeden.”

Allison pushed herself into a sitting position on the bed and noticed Braeden tied up on the floor. “What did you do to her?” she asked.

“We have to leave soon. I’ll explain everything later. Try to wake up Scott; I’ll see if I can wake up Jackson.”

She looked down at Scott and began shaking him gently and talking to him as Stiles knelt down next to Jackson.

“Jackson,” he said, patting him on the shoulder. “Hey buddy, time to wake up.” Jackson let out a soft snore. “Any luck?” he asked Allison.

“He’s out cold,” she said. “What’s going on, Stiles?”

He sighed, went to the bags of food on the desk, and brought a cheeseburger and a pack of fries to Allison. Her eyes went wide at the sight of the food.

“Oh my God! I’m starving!” she exclaimed as she grabbed the now cold burger.

“Yeah, it kind of sneaks up on you, doesn’t it?” he asked as she pulled the wrapper off and took a bite. 

She nodded as she shoved a few fries into her mouth, not seeming to mind that they were cold and dry. “This is so good!” she said. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was!”

“Do you remember the girl we saw when we were connected to that creature thing inside of Braeden?” he asked.

“Dark complexion, long black hair?” asked Allison.

Stiles nodded as Allison took another bite of the burger. She chewed, swallowed and opened her mouth to take another bite when Stiles grabbed her hand to stop her.

“Wait, hold on a second. I don’t want you to choke when I say this.” He pulled his hand away as she lowered the cheeseburger.

“When you say what?” she asked, pretty sure she did not actually want to hear it.

“I saw her,” he said. “When I went to get the food, she came into the restaurant with a group of her friends.”

“What?!” she gasped.

“That’s why we have to leave,” he said. “It might not be safe here anymore.”

Allison jumped out of the bed, putting the burger down on the nightstand. She began wringing her hands.

“Did she follow you here?” she asked, not looking at him, her eyes unfocused, not seeing what was in front of her.

“No,” he answered. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t even know if she knew who I was. She looked at me though.”

Stiles found Allison’s eyes suddenly focusing on him. “She looked at you?”

He nodded.

“And, you’re sure it was her?” she asked.

“Positive.”

She looked down at Braeden. “So what’s your plan then? Why did you tie her up like that?”

“Do you know about an apartment building that the city condemned about a month ago?” he asked.

He watched as she thought about it for a moment. She nodded as it dawned on her. “You mean the Meadowlark Apartments on Ivy?” 

“That sounds right. Do you know how to get there?” he asked.

“Yeah, Scott and I used to pass it all the time on our way to the book store.”

He picked up the half eaten cheeseburger and handed it back to her. “Eat up,” he said. “You’re gonna need to keep up your strength. That’s where we’re going and you’re leading the way.”


	11. Into the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Allison leave the room for somewhere safer to hide.

Allison sat down on the bed, taking slow, thoughtful bites of her food. She could feel Stiles’ thoughts churning as he stood over Braeden, trying to figure out what to do.

“We need to wait until dark,” he said, thinking out loud. “It’s bad enough these things are trying to find us; we don’t want the school and the police getting involved, too.”

Allison did not look up from her cheeseburger. She was thinking of the girl that saw Stiles. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have thought she looked like a nice person. There was something familiar about her. She wondered if the other three would be as emotionless as Braeden was.

“Derek and Scott are the heaviest,” Stiles continued. “I’ll carry them.” He turned to Allison. “You’ll have to carry Jackson and Braeden.”

Allison looked up at him in surprise, almost choking. “What? No!” She stood up, gesturing at Braeden with the burger still in her hand. “Are you insane? I’m not carrying her!”

Stiles sighed. “Look, she’s all tied up. She can’t do anything to you.”

“You don’t know that!” she exclaimed, pointing the cheeseburger at him now. “You don’t know what she’s capable of!”

“We had her tied up in the chair and she didn’t get free. How is she gonna get out of that?” he asked, pointing at Braeden.

Allison shook her head stubbornly. “No. Uh-uh. No way! What makes you think I can even carry her?”

It was a good question. “Can she?” he asked Isaac. 

“I don’t see why not,” Isaac answered. “It won’t be as easy for her as it would be for you, but I think even if she was carrying Jackson and Braeden, she should be able to keep up with you. As long as you don’t go too fast.”

“Isaac says you can do it,” Stiles said.

“You can,” added Erica.

Allison stared at him for a moment before putting the cheeseburger back down on the nightstand. She looked up at the ceiling, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then, she walked over to Braeden, bent down, and heaved the unmoving body over her shoulder. Braeden wasn’t as heavy as she thought. 

“See?” said Erica.

Allison then walked over to Jackson, reached down with her free arm and pulled him up over her other shoulder. She wouldn’t be able to move very fast, but she was definitely able to carry them.

Turning to Stiles, she said, “Okay, fine. I guess I can do this. But, the minute she wakes up, I am dropping her on her head, got it?”

Stiles frowned, but nodded. Allison put Jackson and Braeden back where she got them and sat back down next to Scott to finish her food. She ate silently and watched as Stiles pushed Derek against the wall so that he could lie down next to him.

Staring up at the ceiling, he asked her, “How did this happen to us, Allison?”

She didn’t have an answer for him. Walking over to the desk, she crumpled up the empty wrapper and pulled two more burgers from the bag. 

“There’s no sense in letting this food go to waste,” she said as she tossed one of them to Stiles. He caught it without having to sit up. “I’ve never eaten two hamburgers in one sitting before, but for some reason I’m still starving. I can’t imagine how hungry you must be right now. You want more fries?” she asked.

Stiles shook his head as he unwrapped the burger and bit into it. Allison dug out two packs of fries and set them down next to her unfinished one. They both ate silently as the room grew dark around them.

“Hey, Stiles?” Allison asked.

“Yeah?” he answered.

“You’re pretty amazing you know,” Allison said, examining his profile in the dark as he looked up at the ceiling. He didn’t answer her.

“I’m still kind of tired,” she continued. “I’m gonna take a nap. Wake me up when it’s time to go?”

He turned his head to look at her. She could feel his apprehension.

She smiled at him. “Don’t worry, I’ll wake up when you need me to.”

“Okay,” he said, nodding and giving her a melancholy smile. 

She closed her eyes and was asleep almost immediately. Stiles stared at the ceiling, not really noticing as the room got darker, or when his eyes began to close.

* * *

Stiles leapt to his feet when the door slammed open, his heart racing. Allison was at his side instantly, grabbing his arm.

“What was that?” she asked frantically.

Stiles quickly scanned the room. Braeden and Jackson were still passed out on the floor; Scott and Derek were still in the beds. A cold wind was blowing leaves into the room. Stiles ran to the door and shut it as fast as he could without slamming it. The wind was threatening to blow it open again if he let it go, so he used his foot to push the two backpacks and the messenger bag against it to keep it closed.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I must have fallen asleep. That was stupid.”

“Don’t say that,” Allison said, shaking her head. “I can tell how exhausted you are. Even with Isaac’s abilities, you still need to rest.”

“You do,” Isaac added.

Stiles scowled.

“Stiles, come here.” Allison waved him over to where she was standing next to Derek.

She patted the mattress where he had been lying before the slamming door had awakened them. He sat on the spot obediently and she took the beanie off of his head and gently pushed him down onto the mattress. Grabbing a blanket from the other bed, she covered him with it, then leaned in, and kissed him on the forehead.

“Go to sleep,” she whispered, smiling at him like only Allison could. “I’ll wake you in a few hours. Let me take care of you for a while.”

He gave her another sad smile, then turned to his side so he could put his arm around Derek. Allison stood there with her arms crossed and listened as his breathing slowed. She knew he was asleep when his emotions subsided and took on the strange quality she had come to associate with dreaming. The wind seemed to be picking up speed and would hopefully keep the other college students in for the night. Hopefully, the wind would mask whatever noise they made. What they were planning to do later was going to be hard enough without witnesses. Sitting back down on the bed, she thought about how she could pass the time. She knew her laptop was in her backpack on the floor, and she thought about using the school’s Wi-Fi to get online.

“Don’t do it,” said Erica. “Someone might notice you logging in. You can’t do anything that might lead them to us.”

It suddenly dawned on her how little she had thought about how her life had changed. There really hadn’t been a free moment with all that had happened since the explosion, not that she had been awake for very much of that time. Now that she had a few hours to herself, her and Erica anyway, she had time to consider what the rest of her life was going to be like.

“We need to disappear, don’t we?” she asked. 

Erica’s sadness was the only answer she needed. Her parents would be expecting a phone call in a few days. When they didn’t hear from her, they would get worried and they would try to call Scott, and then the school. Inevitably, someone would link her disappearance to the explosion and come to the conclusion that she had been in the house when it happened. Assuming, of course, that no one had come to that conclusion already.

Though the room was dark, she could still see as well as if the light had been on. She suddenly found herself blinking rapidly, warm tears streaking down her face. She wiped them away and tried to steel herself against any other outbursts of emotion, but she failed and soon found herself curled tightly into a ball at Scott’s side as she cried, trying to make as little noise as possible. Stiles needed his sleep and she would be damned if she was going let him see her like this after everything that he had been through.

Sleep could have overtaken her so easily at that point, but she refused to give in. After a few deep breaths, she sat up and went to the bathroom to find some tissue so she could blow her nose. She looked at herself in the mirror as she cleaned herself up. Her hair was a mess and she wished she had a toothbrush. There were a couple of toothbrushes on the counter, but she wasn’t that desperate yet. 

As she washed her hands, she thought about her aunts and uncles and her cousins and her grandparents. They were all supposed to go to her Great Aunt Carol’s for Thanksgiving. She had agreed to let her aunt teach her how to cook this year. Aunt Carol always made the best pumpkin pie. Allison let a tear fall for that. One of her sisters would have to carry on the traditions instead. Allison never considered herself much of a hostess anyway, but she had always been Aunt Carol’s favorite and Aunt Carol was nothing if not persistent.

Allison dried off her hands on a towel and sat down on the bed again. She ran her fingers through Scott’s hair and checked the clock on the nightstand. It was almost one. She decided to let Stiles sleep for another half hour.

The wind had not let up yet. She took it as a good sign. Closing her eyes, she let her senses expand. There were still quite a few people awake in the dorm, but there were no extremes of emotion that might be cause for concern. She grimaced when she thought of Braeden and the way she could sense none of Braeden’s emotions, or more accurately, none of the creature’s emotions. If they encountered others like her, she would recognize them right away. But, if there were any nearby, she had no way of knowing. It was an imperfect warning system.

She opened her eyes again and sat quietly for a while.

“Do you miss it?” she asked Erica, breaking the silence. “Do you miss being home?”

Erica didn’t answer right away. “You know,” she said, “I haven’t really thought about home for a long time. But, yes. I do. Mostly I miss my parents and my brothers.” 

“How do you do it?” she asked. “When I think about not being able to see my…” her voice caught, unable to finish the sentence. She couldn’t give form to the thought. Saying it would make it too real.

“I don’t know how this is all gonna play out,” Erica said, trying to reassure her. “But someday, if we all survive this, it might be safe to see them again.”

“But, they’re going to think I died in the fire,” she said, her heart breaking. “How can I do that to them? How can I let my parents think that? What kind of daughter does that make me?”

“The kind of daughter that wants to keep them safe,” Erica answered. “If one of these things figured out how to get to you through your families, that would be bad. Very, very bad.”

Allison closed her eyes and nodded. 

“We just have to survive,” Erica continued. “We can figure out the rest later. What time is it?”

Allison looked at the clock. “I think it’s time to wake up Stiles,” she answered.

She got up, walked to the other bed and gently tapped him on the shoulder. 

“Stiles,” she whispered. “It’s time.”

He opened his eyes and looked at her, then sat up in the bed.

“How did you sleep?” she asked.

Stiles shrugged. “Okay, I guess.” He grabbed his beanie from the nightstand and put it back on his head. “Are you ready to do this?” he asked, looking up at her again.

“Do I have choice?” she asked.

He grimaced, stood up and walked over to the pile of stuff at the door. He tossed her the jacket and scarf from her room and waited for her to put them on before tossing one of the backpacks to her. She stuffed the remaining two cheeseburgers into it before putting it on. 

“Should we bring the rest of the fries?” she asked.

“Toss me the bag,” Stiles said, his hands outstretched. 

She threw the bag to him and watched as he wolfed down three packs of fries in a little more than a minute. “You should enter one of those eating competitions. Another skinny guy beating everyone else by eating five dozen hot dogs in twenty minutes.”

He smiled as he crumpled up the bag and then threw it into the trash. “I think having superpowers would disqualify me,” he replied with a sigh. He put on the other jacket, then put on the other backpack, leaving the messenger bag on the floor to keep the door closed. The wind outside was howling, now.

He walked over to Derek and lifted him up over one shoulder, then went to the other bed for Scott. Allison watched him for a moment before reaching down to pick up Braeden. Once Scott was securely tucked under one arm, Stiles went back to the door.

“Hey, Allison,” he whispered, as Allison was about to reach down for Jackson. “Before you grab him, can you give me a hand over here with my bag?” he asked, nodding at the messenger bag on the floor.

Allison picked the bag up with her free hand and stood in front of him with it, unsure of what to do.

“Just put the strap around my neck,” he instructed, lowering his head to make it easier for her.

She did as he asked, then scooped up Jackson and lifted him up over her other shoulder. She saw Stiles standing at the door with a backpack on his back, a messenger bag around his neck, Derek draped over one shoulder and Scott hanging limply under his arm on the other side. She thought about what she must look like to him.

“This is insane!” she whispered loudly.

Stiles just sighed and asked, “You know where you’re going right?”

Allison nodded and he opened the door, letting the chilly wind back into the room. The wispy clouds were practically racing across the face of the crescent moon as Allison led the way, pushing her senses out in front of her to make sure they would not run into anyone. Stiles followed behind her, the pacing almost leisurely compared to when he had first brought them to the room. Unfortunately, he was unable to use his augmenting abilities to help her, as Allison’s special abilities had nothing to do with strength or speed. He hoped she was not pushing herself too much on his account. 

They jogged past the burger joint where he had picked up their food earlier and continued down the street, as leaves skittered past them on the ground. Everything was closed. They kept off the main roads, sticking to the side streets and cutting through neighborhoods in order to avoid being spotted by people driving by. Even then, they had to duck into the bushes a few times to avoid detection. 

Some of the homes they passed still had lights on, and sometimes they could see the people inside. Allison watched the blue glow coming from the TVs flickering on the people’s faces. She could barely feel any emotions at all coming off of the tired individuals that had turned off their brains for the night. Thinking back to the many nights she had spent in just that state, she remembered trying to avoid going to bed. The reasons why evaded her now as she felt the weight of Jackson and Braeden on her shoulders. She had wasted so much of her life just doing nothing when she could have been reading, or traveling, or finally learning how to cook. Would she have the chance to do all those things now? Theoretically, if they survived this, she would have all the time in the world. If they survived. How many times had that statement crossed her mind today? The apartment building was only a few blocks away now, but she was getting tired. 

She turned to face Stiles, not slowing down, even though her arms and shoulders were starting to ache. “It’s just down this street,” she said in a rough whisper.

Stiles noticed the beads of sweat and the strained look on her face. She was breathing heavily. “Are you okay?” he asked.

Allison turned back towards the direction they were heading. “I’m fine,” she answered, gritting her teeth. “Let’s just get there so I can put these two down.”

Stiles frowned. Allison wouldn’t ask for help, even if she needed it. He just hoped she wouldn’t end up passing out when they got there, leaving him alone again. As they approached the large building, Stiles noticed the chain and padlock on the front doors along with the sign posted to warn of the building’s condemned status. Allison’s breath was ragged by the time they got to the double doors and she lowered Jackson and Braeden to the ground.

“We’re here,” she said between gasps of air as she leaned against the wall. “I can’t carry them anymore.”

Stiles sat Scott and Derek up against one of the doors and gently held Allison by her shoulders.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, lowering his head slightly so that his eyes would be at the same level as hers.

She nodded her head vigorously. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she assured him, waving him away with a limp arm. “I just need to catch my breath.” She waved towards the padlock on the door now. “Can you take care of that?”

Stiles glanced at the heavy-duty padlock and matching chain. He looked back at her, smiling. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”

He went back to the door, grabbed the chains with one hand and the padlock with the other and gave it a quick jerk. The padlock snapped off and he threw it into the bushes. He pulled the door handle until the lock broke, then opened it and tossed the chain inside of the building. Once he got Derek, Scott, Jackson, and Braeden through the door, he went back to Allison and led her gently by the hand into the building.

The darkness posed no problem for either of them, but the musty smell of dust tickled their noses. Allison sank to the floor with her back against the wall as Stiles’ footsteps echoed off the tile. He noticed the noise and was more careful with how he walked, realizing that with a little effort, he was able to move as silently as a cat. They were in the lobby of the building, a small counter in the corner. There was still a decrepit office chair behind it, but the space was otherwise bare. There were two sets of elevator doors, but he was pretty sure the building had no power and he wouldn’t have tried to use them even if there was.

“I’m gonna check out some of the apartments,” he said, turning towards her. “Are you gonna be okay if I leave you here?”

“Stiles,” she said firmly, “I’m fine. Go,” she said, shooing him away with her arm. 

“All right,” he said, looking at the four unconscious people around her. “Just yell if you need me; I won’t be far.”

Allison nodded and waved him away again without saying anything as he slowly walked down the hall. All of the doors he passed were locked, but he didn’t bother breaking into any of those. He would feel safer on a higher floor anyway. The stairwell was just around the corner at the end of the hall, the door leading to it unlocked. He left it open so that he could hear Allison in case she called out for him. 

He gave a spare thought to the possible reasons that the building could have been condemned as he placed his foot on the first step, but shrugged it off, doubting the stairwell would suddenly come crashing down. The door to the second floor was also unlocked and he left that one open as well. The hallway was pitch black, and even with his enhanced eyesight, he had difficulty making out the doorways. 

The first door he tried was locked, as was the second, and the third. He figured they all would be as he jiggled the knob of the fourth door. It also refused to turn. He kept his hand on the knob and shoved the door hard with his shoulder. The lock broke and the door swung open, revealing a bare apartment beyond. He couldn’t figure out what it was, but the smell of the room was off. When he found a desiccated rat in the middle of the kitchen floor, he decided to move on to a different apartment.

“Good choice,” Isaac commented. “If Lydia woke up to that, she would have freaked.”

“Yeah, I don’t think Jackson would have appreciated it either,” Stiles replied as he continued down the hall.

* * *

Allison leaned her head back against the wall. She was exhausted, but she refused to let herself fall asleep.

“You didn’t need to get here so fast,” said Erica. “We could have taken a little more time.”

“No,” Allison replied, shaking her head. “The longer we stayed outside, the more chance there was that someone was gonna see us. Stiles already ran into one of them. We don’t know if she recognized him or not and we don’t know where the others are. We don’t even know if there’s only three of them. Maybe I should start bringing them down the hall,” she said, sizing up Derek, trying to guess how heavy he might be.

“Save your strength,” Erica insisted. “If you didn’t notice, Stiles wasn’t even breathing hard when we got here. Let him take care of that stuff.”

Allison stood up. Her heart had resumed its normal, slower pace, as had her breathing. There were a few doors opposite the hallway and she wondered if one of them led to a communal living space of some kind, or maybe a gym. She wasn’t brave enough to find out.

“I hope Stiles comes back soon,” she said. “This place gives me the creeps.”

Erica laughed. “What? Are you afraid of ghosts now?”

“Hey!” Allison exclaimed, wagging her finger at the empty air. “If you had asked me a week ago if I believe in aliens, there was a pretty good chance I would have said no.” She paused, then continued, “You five in particular have a lot in common with ghosts actually if you think about it.”

“Like what?” asked Erica, sounding slightly offended.

“Well, you’re made out of energy,” Allison started, counting off on her fingers. “You don’t have bodies, well not all the time anyway. Most of the time, you’re invisible, and you have weird supernatural powers.”

“Ghosts don’t have weird powers!” Erica declared. “And, what do you mean weird?”

“Well, not things that living people can do,” Allison clarified. “Like they can make you see things and they can move things around with their minds and stuff.”

Erica giggled and Allison smiled. Then, Allison noticed a pair of eyes watching her; she let out a blood-curdling scream as she backpedaled furiously, slamming into the wall behind her. 

“What?!” Stiles asked frantically, appearing out of nowhere, looking around for what had scared her. “What happened? What was it?”

Allison had one hand over her mouth, her eyes wide and afraid. She pointed her other hand at Braeden. Braeden’s eyes were rolled back in her head and her jaw was working like she was trying to chew something that was way to big for her to swallow. Something dark and hazy began to emerge from Braeden’s mouth as Allison choked back a sob. Stiles put himself between Allison and Braeden as the thing oozed out and fell onto the floor. It was round like a ball, but the surface was indistinct, like it was made out of smoke. It had teeth.

“What the hell is that?” Stiles exclaimed, taking a step back. His face contorted in horror as it began to move towards Derek.

Time slowed as he reached down for the chain that he had broken from the front doors of the apartment building. His hands closed around the cold metal as he jumped at the creature. Some of the smoke began to lift off its surface to form arm-like tendrils, reaching out for Derek’s face. The white teeth seemed to glow against the inky surface of the creature’s body in a demonic maniacal grin. Stiles roared, grasping the chain with both hands as he swung it down on the offending smile. The chain slipped through the smoke, but it caught the teeth, smashing them into the tile floor. The smoke dissipated as the teeth broke apart from each other and clattered away, like tiny bits of porcelain from a tiny teacup. 

Stiles stood still, breathing heavily, chain in hand, ready in case any of the teeth pieces decided to move. He jumped when he felt something on his shoulder, raising his arm to strike before realizing it was Allison. She wrapped her arms around him and cried into his shirt as he held her, but he never took his eyes off of the teeth. As far as he could tell, they had not moved after they had come to rest on the tiles.

He stroked Allison’s hair to calm her down. “It’s okay. It’s gone now. I killed it,” he said, hoping he was right.

After she stopped crying, Stiles bent down to examine the broken teeth. 

“I don’t think you should leave those here,” said Isaac, as Stiles poked at them with a pen he had pulled from his backpack.

“You’re right,” Stiles replied as he tore off a piece of the blanket he had used to roll up Braeden. He collected every tooth he could find, then wrapped them up and put them in his pocket so he could look at them later. He gave Allison a quick hug.

“You okay?” he asked.

She nodded as she wiped the tears from her face. “Couldn’t be any better,” she replied, shrugging with a defeated smile.

“I found a room on the second floor that we can camp out in,” he said as he lifted Derek onto his back. “I don’t want to leave you alone again, but I can’t carry all four of them at the same time.”

“Oh, you’re not leaving me here by myself,” she said as she put on her backpack and then wiped her face again with her arm. She threw Jackson over one shoulder. “I’m coming with you. We all are.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, picking up Scott.

“Oh, I’m sure!” she answered as she threw Braeden over her other shoulder, then looked up at him. “I made it all the way here with these two, I think I can make it up one flight of stairs.”

Stiles led her to the apartment, which was empty like all the others, and laid Derek and Scott on the floor. Allison did the same with Braeden and Jackson, then took off her backpack and set it down. Stiles added his backpack and the messenger bag to the pile, then closed the door.

“We should be safe here,” he began, “for a little while anyway. Hopefully, no one will notice that the chain is missing from the front door. Get some sleep.”

“What about you?” Allison asked.

“I’ll keep watch,” he answered. “You let me sleep earlier; I should be good for a while.”

She nodded and curled up next to Scott on the carpet, trying not to think about how dirty it was. Stiles walked to the window to keep an eye on what was going on outside. His emotions confused her, a strange combination of anxiousness and peace, turmoil and calm. The moon lit his face softly as he stood at the window with his arms crossed, a sentinel against the things that were hunting them, and for the moment, she felt safe.


	12. She's the Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang decides that hiding is no longer enough.

Jackson blinked at the sunlight. He didn’t recognize the room he was in, but he was beginning to get use to waking up in strange places. Derek and Braeden were lying on the ground next to him. Looking up, he found Scott and Allison standing next to each other at the window.

“He’s awake now,” Allison said to Scott, placing her hand on his shoulder as she turned to give Jackson a warm smile. She had felt Jackson’s emotions getting stronger as he began to wake and had been waiting for him to finally open his eyes.

Scott offered a hand to help him up, and Jackson grabbed hold of it, rising to his feet.

“Morning,” Scott said, patting him on the back. “How’d you sleep?”

“Okay, I guess,” he answered, scowling at their surroundings. He looked around the strange and empty room as he rubbed his face with his hands. “Where the hell are we?”

“The Meadowlark apartments,” Scott said.

“You mean the condemned Meadowlark apartments?” he asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” Allison answered. “The ones that are condemned.”

“What the hell are we doing here?” he asked, looking for signs of structural instability. “And, where’s Stiles?”

“Stiles went to get us some breakfast,” Allison said, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards an old table with an odd collection of chairs around it. “He went through some of the other apartments and found some stuff we could use,” she explained, sitting down in one of the chairs. “He said there were a couple of mattresses, but they were kind of gross, so he didn’t bring them. He left these, though,” she said, pointing at a piece of cloth with what looked like a small handful of sharp teeth laying on its surface.

“What are they?” asked Lydia.

“They came from the creature that was inside of Braeden!” Erica declared, almost gleefully.

“What?!” exclaimed Lydia and Jackson in unison. 

“What do you mean? Did you find these somewhere?” Lydia asked.

Erica thought cast to them the scene from the night before. She could feel their revulsion as the creature emerged from Braeden’s mouth and their relief when Stiles apparently killed it with the chain. 

“Wow,” commented Lydia when it was over.

“We still have the chain, right?” asked Jackson, looking at the counters and under the table.

“Yes,” John answered. “It’s by the door. But, there’s no reason to think we’ll be needing it anytime soon.”

“So, I guess we know how to kill these things, now?” Lydia asked.

Allison poked at the teeth with the spoon she found in one of the kitchen drawers, afraid to touch the teeth with her bare hands. “Maybe?” she answered. “I mean, do we even know if it’s really dead?”

“Isn’t it?” demanded Jackson.

“We know essentially nothing about these creatures,” John began, as if he were beginning a lecture. “We know nothing about their physiology, or how they reproduce. For all we know, each of these teeth could sprout a whole new creature with its own set of teeth!”

“Why don’t we find a jar to put them in, or something?” asked Jackson. “A jar with a lid to make sure they don’t get out?”

“Stiles is supposed bring one back with him,” Scott said from the window. “He should be back any minute.”

“So it’s really gone?” asked Lydia. “It’s not inside of her anymore?”

“As far as we can tell,” John answered. “Once Derek wakes up, we can link to Braeden and do a more thorough inspection.”

Jackson frowned and leaned in, his face mere inches from the teeth. “They kind of look like shark teeth.” he mused.

“Yeah, sort of,” Allison said, holding one of the teeth up with the spoon at eye level.

“Have you tried to break one?” Jackson asked.

“They’re pretty tough,” Scott said as he approached the table. “Stiles even tried pounding on one of them with a brick. Smashed the hell out of the brick, but the tooth didn’t even have a scratch on it.”

“He’s back,” Erica announced a few seconds before Stiles opened the door.

He nodded at them. “Hey, guys. Jackson,” he said as he tossed a foil wrapped burrito at him. “Glad to see you’re up. I didn’t stop to pick up a jar. I’ll go out again in a minute.”

“Are you all right, Lydia?” asked Isaac.

“I’m fine,” she answered, reassuringly. “You two have been busy, as usual.”

“Well, someone has to take care of all of you,” Isaac replied with a slightly haughty air.

“Derek and Melissa should be joining us in a moment,” announced Erica.

Stiles looked over to where Derek was lying on the floor, but he wasn’t stirring yet. He put the bag of burritos on the table. “Breakfast burritos,” he announced. “We don’t really have any plates or utensils. I figured they’d be easy to eat. They’re egg, bacon and hash browns.”

Scott clapped him on the back as he pulled a burrito from the bag. “Thanks, man.”

Stiles nodded and went to Derek, sitting down next to him. Gently, he lifted Derek’s head into his lap and stroked Derek’s cheek with his thumb. Derek’s eyes opened slowly and he smiled as Stiles’ face came into focus.

“There you are,” Stiles whispered, his hand still on Derek’s cheek. 

Derek reached up, brought Stiles’ hand to his mouth and kissed his palm. “Something smells good,” he said with a goofy grin, just for Stiles.

Smiling back at him, Stiles helped him to his feet. “We have breakfast burritos. I got some cheeseburgers for you earlier from that place that you like, but you never woke up, so we ate them.”

Derek laughed, then stopped when he spotted the teeth. “Sharp little suckers, aren’t they?” he commented as he picked one up with his fingers. Hearing Allison catch her breath, he turned to reassure her. “Don’t worry Allison, the teeth can’t hurt anyone.”

“Are you sure?” asked John.

“He’s sure,” Melissa answered as Derek nodded.

“Well, I guess we know how to kill them, then,” Allison said. “Now we just need to figure out how to get them to come out.”

Derek shrugged, saying, “Sorry, I got nothing.”

“Maybe if we can just keep them tied up long enough like we did with Braeden, they’ll come out on their own,” Stiles suggested.

Scott nodded, “Yeah, we can try that. The only problem is getting our hands on one of them again. Braeden was obviously looking for us. How are we supposed to look for them?”

“Remember that meeting Braeden was supposed to have with the others?” asked Lydia.

“Yeah,” Derek answered for everyone.

“When was that supposed to happen?” Lydia thought cast to John. “When you were implanting the suggestion that it was time for the meeting, did you get a feel for when the meeting was supposed to take place?”

“This afternoon, around four-thirty,” he answered. “Why?”

“Well, there are two things, actually,” Lydia began. “If Braeden doesn’t show up for the meeting, the others will probably come looking for her. Second, we know where they’ll be at four-thirty today.”

“Are you saying we should be there?” asked Scott. “What if someone recognizes us?”

“No, we can’t all go,” Lydia replied. “But, Allison can.”

Allison’s head snapped up, her eyes opened wide. “What?”

“If you wear one of the boys’ clothes and hide your hair under a hat, you should be able to get in and out without anyone recognizing you,” Lydia said.

“No!” exclaimed Scott. “She’s not going in there to face three of those things by herself!”

“Stop being so dramatic!” Lydia replied. “She’s not going to face anybody. She’s just gonna be our eyes and ears for when their meeting happens. Besides, we’ll all be nearby and connected to her through me.”

Scott shook his head. “I don’t like it. It’s too dangerous.”

Allison turned to him and put her hand on his arm. “I don’t like it either,” she said. “But, Lydia's right. We know they’re going to be at the library at four-thirty today. After that, we don’t know anything. We have to do this.”

“What time is it now?” asked Jackson.

Stiles checked his watch. “It’s almost noon. That gives us about four hours to get ready.” He distributed the rest of the burritos, making sure they each had two, except for Derek, who got three. “Eat up, especially you three,” he said pointing at Scott, Jackson, and Derek. “You haven’t eaten anything in a couple of days now.”

Allison looked up from her food. “What are we going to do with Braeden?” she asked.

“That is a good question,” Stiles replied as he went to stand over her. He looked over to the rest of them, still at the table. “We’ll need to get a look inside of her. Finish your food, I’ll be back in a sec.”

“Where are you going?” asked Derek.

“To get some rope,” he answered as he stepped through the door.

The others were silent as they ate, their thoughts occupied with their plans for the library.

“We know Stiles can take on one of these things,” said Scott finally. “But, what about us? How strong are these things anyway?”

“Stiles, how strong was Braeden when you were fighting her?” thought cast Lydia. 

He sent over the impression that he was at a hardware store. “I dunno, normal I guess? I never fought anyone before her. She was strong and fast, but not any stronger than a normal person from what I could tell.”

“The creature that was inside of Braeden didn’t have any special abilities,” Melissa said. “But, it was able to push Braeden to do things she probably would never have known she could do. The human body is capable of incredible feats of strength and speed and agility under the right circumstances. If the others are the same, then fighting them should be similar to fighting some very well-trained soldiers.”

John, Lydia, Isaac and Erica were used to Melissa making pronouncements like this, so they took her at her word. Scott, Jackson, Stiles and Allison did not feel the need to question her if the aliens inside of them weren’t going to.

“I can take one of them by myself,” Stiles said, agreeing with Scott’s earlier comment, as the cashier rang up his purchase. “That leaves two of you for each one that’s left. I’d feel a lot better about this if you all kept your distance and just followed them until I can come help you, but if something happens, the odds are in your favor. You’re all faster and stronger than normal people now. If it comes down to a fight, with two of you against one of them, I think you should be okay.” He paid the cashier. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said to them as he left the store.

“I think Stiles should take the younger guy,” Allison said, turning to Scott. “I think we can take the girl.”

Scott arched his eyebrows, but didn’t say anything. 

“So that leaves us with the old guy?” Derek asked, pointing at himself and Jackson.

“Yup,” Allison answered.

They were quiet again as they finished their food. The door opened and Stiles stepped through carrying two eight-foot pieces of rebar and a plastic shopping bag.”

“What’s the rebar for?” asked Scott.

Stiles shrugged. “I guess I just wanted something a little stronger than bed sheets and blankets. Not that we have any more of those anyway.” He frowned. “I figured we’d have to bring the other three back here. I can use these to make sure they can’t get away.”

“How exactly are you going to use them?” Scott asked, confused.

Stiles took one of the pieces of rebar and grabbed it near the ends. Grunting a little, he bent it in half, then bent it back again, causing the rebar to break in two. He took one of the halves and shaped into a hoop.

“That oughta work,” he said, examining his handiwork.

Derek chuckled. “My superman,” he commented with a sly grin. Stiles gave him a cheesy smile.

“What’s in the bag?” asked Scott.

Stiles produced a bundle of large zip ties.

Jackson arched an eyebrow. “I think you’ve been watching too many cop shows. I thought you were going to get rope?”

“I thought these would be better,” Stiles answered, tossing the bundle to Jackson. “I got these, too,” he said, pulling out three rolls of duct tape. He tossed one to Scott and one to Derek.

“Are we going to duct tape them too?” Scott asked.

“That’s for their mouths,” Stiles answered.

“Their mouths?” Allison asked.

“Well, we can’t carry them around campus all tied up like we’re some kind of gang of kidnappers,” Stiles said. “What we’re gonna be doing is basically illegal. We don’t need them screaming for help and drawing attention to us. Also, wherever we end up with them after the library, we’re gonna have to hold tight and keep them quiet until it gets dark and we can bring them back here.”

“You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?” asked Scott, feeling a little bewildered.

“Well, Isaac thought of most of it,” he answered. “I don’t have much experience kidnapping people.”

“I have never kidnapped anyone!” Isaac exclaimed.

Stiles chuckled, “And yet, you thought of zip ties and duct tape.”

“I’ve seen a lot of TV,” Isaac replied.

“What about her?” asked Scott, gesturing at Braeden. “Are you gonna make her more secure with the rebar?”

Stiles stood over Braeden and rubbed his forehead. “You know, I don’t think she’s really dangerous anymore.”

“We can’t just let her go,” said Lydia. “She knows too much.”

“Well, sweetheart,” replied Melissa, “We don’t really know what she knows.”

“We need to link with her,” declared Scott. “Like we did before. We need to get inside her head and see what’s in there.”

“Yes,” said Stiles. “But not right now; we don’t have time. We have to be at the library soon and I don’t need all of you passing out on me again. We’ve had her tied up like this for a while and she hasn’t escaped yet. She’ll probably still be passed out when we get back.”

“He’s right,” added John. “We have to save our strength. What time is it now?” Scott looked at his watch so that John could see it. It was a quarter after three. 

“We need to get ready,” Scott said. “Are you sure we can just leave her like that?”

Stiles frowned. “Let’s just zip tie her hands and feet, just in case,” he said, motioning with his hand for Jackson to give him some zip ties. Jackson pulled two from the bundle and handed them to Stiles. They watched as he secured her wrists and ankles.

“There you go,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s see her get out of that.”

Allison went to Stiles’ backpack and pulled out a pair of his jeans and one of his T-shirts. She went into one of the other rooms and closed the door so she could change. She emerged from the room holding on to the waistband so the pants wouldn’t fall off.

“Stiles, I need your belt,” she said, holding her hand out. He took his belt off and gave it to her. Threading it through the belt loops, she secured it with the buckle and spread her arms wide. “So, what do you think?”

Stiles pulled his off his beanie and put it on her head. She reached up and stuffed her hair underneath it.

“Allison, no one is going to think you’re a boy,” commented Derek, smiling with laughter in his eyes.

She used the link to see herself through their eyes. No boy’s chest would be as developed as hers was. She blushed and un-tucked the shirt.

Derek shrugged and took off his leather jacket and handed it to her. “That’s a little better, I guess, but you’re gonna need to wear this.”

“You need to sag your pants a little too,” said Scott, making a downward motion with his hand. “Guys don’t wear their pants that high.”

Allison tugged the pants down, then put the jacket on, zipping it up halfway. The four boys looked at her appraisingly with strange expressions on their faces until Allison blurted out, “Would somebody say something?”

Derek smiled apologetically. “Well, as long as you don’t talk, people should mistake you for a very pretty boy.”

“I think you can pull this off,” Scott said. “If I walked past you in the hall and you were in this getup, even I might not recognize you if I wasn’t paying attention.”

Allison blushed some more. “Thanks, I guess.”

Scott laughed, grabbed her shoulders and kissed her. “You’re the prettiest boy I ever kissed.”

“Uh-huh,” Allison replied with a smirk as she kissed him back.

They all turned when they heard a loud snapping noise behind them. Stiles had broken the other piece of rebar in half.

“Are we bringing those with us?” asked Scott.

Stiles shook his head. “I think we should leave them here for now. They’ll just draw attention to us. Once we have the others secured, I can always make a quick run back here for them. I’ll make sure no one sees me.”

Jackson handed a few of the zip ties to each of them. Allison looked at the four in her hand, shook her head in disbelief and shoved them in her pocket.

“We’re really doing this,” she stated, with a loud sigh. “I want to get there before they do. I would rather they didn’t notice me walking in. Hopefully I can get settled in somewhere and just become part of the scenery somehow.”

“All right, let’s go,” Scott said, looking at the others. “Everybody ready?”

Stiles, Derek, and Jackson nodded. They left the apartment after Stiles checked to make sure none of Braeden’s bindings were loose. The hallway was almost as dark as it had been during the night, the only light coming in from the few doors Stiles hadn’t closed during his search through the other apartments. The meager light was enough to show them why the building had been condemned. The carpets were heavily stained and there were large cracks running along the ceiling and even some on the walls. It looked like most of the light fixtures were missing light bulbs, not that there was any electricity running to power them.

“The apartment that we’re staying in didn’t have cracks like this,” Jackson commented, pointing up at the ceiling.

“That’s why I picked it,” said Stiles. “That and the dead rat.”

“What dead rat?” asked Jackson, slightly alarmed.

Stiles laughed. “Yeah, the first apartment I looked at had a dead rat in the kitchen. I knew you wouldn’t appreciate it.”

“You’re hilarious, Stilinski,” Jackson replied, squinting his eyes at Stiles.

Looking through the front doors of the building they saw that the street was deserted. They left the building silently, and Stiles wrapped the chain around the handles to make it look like the doors were still locked. As they made their way back to the school, they kept to the side streets, running through the neighborhoods again. Even though they were less conspicuous now, with no bodies to carry, they agreed it would be safer if less people saw them.

None of them spoke as they walked past the houses. Allison smiled at a little girl riding by on her pink bicycle and the little girl smiled back. The girl’s emotions were clear; she was happy. Allison was glad she had some way to determine whether or not a nearby person was possessed by one of those teeth things, but she worried about how foolproof her method was. She felt pretty safe now with the others. Derek’s premonitions might give them warning of danger, and she had already seen what Stiles’ speed and strength could do. But, what would happen if she had to face one of them alone? She didn’t want to think about it.

Allison could feel Stiles getting anxious as they approached the burger place. He glanced furtively through the windows, but the girl with the black hair was not there, not that he truly expected to find her inside. She watched as Derek reached out to hold Stiles’ hand, pulling him close and kissing him on the temple. She felt Stiles relax a little, but as they neared the library, she could feel the others getting more and more nervous. 

Derek, Stiles, and Jackson sat down at a bench in the field next to the library while Scott and Allison continued on. 

“I thought you were going to stay out here with them,” said Allison as they moved away from the others.

“I’m not letting you go in there by yourself,” he answered stubbornly. “I can stay on the bottom floor and I won’t go near anybody. Don’t worry about me,” he said, smiling at her. “I never spent much time in the library before anyway, no one in there is gonna recognize me.”

Allison rolled her eyes as she swiped Braeden’s student ID card to open the doors. Keeping their heads down, they walked towards the stairs. Scott grabbed her hand.

“Okay, are you sure about this?” he asked.

She nodded and threw her arms around his neck, holding him tight. “I’m scared,” she whispered.

Scott hugged her back. “Me too,” he said. “You be careful up there and don’t get too close to them. We’re all nearby; just make sure we see and hear everything that happens.”

Stiles’ voice broke through suddenly. “Heads up! The old guy just walked past us. The other two are probably on their way.”

Allison gave Scott a final squeeze, then jogged up the stairs. Scott watched until he couldn’t see her anymore, then ducked into the stacks. Finding a spot a few stacks away, he peered through the books and made sure he could still see the stairs. He held his breath as the older man walked to the stairs and continued up them without hesitating. 

“He’s on his way,” he thought cast to Allison.

Allison thought cast her vantage point to him. She had found the table where the three were going to meet. Pulling a random book off of one of the shelves, she sat down at another table about twenty feet away and opened the book in front of her so that she could peer over the top of it to observe them. The others all watched through her eyes as the first of the three sat down to wait.

Scott saw the other two approach the stairs together. The guy was stony faced, just as he expected, but the girl seemed to be smiling to herself. “They’re headed to you, Allison,” he said.

She nodded, even though he couldn’t see her. The man waiting at the table had no emotions, just like Braeden felt when she still had that thing inside of her. She had forgotten how creepy it was. The frat guy joined the older man. They did not greet each other, and to Allison’s eyes, did not really seem to notice each other at all. The black haired girl sat down next. She, unlike the others, was smiling. She nodded at them, and to Allison’s surprise, they nodded back. Still, none of them spoke as they waited for Braeden to arrive and Allison began to wonder when their patience would run out.


	13. Spy Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang puts their plan to capture the aliens into action.

Allison turned the page of her book, not seeing anything that was printed on the pages. Every few seconds, she stole a glance at the three at the table, not knowing how much longer the ruse was going to hold. They had been waiting for at least twenty minutes now. 

“I should’ve brought a backpack,” she thought cast to the others. “At least that way I could look like I was doing homework or something.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Scott. “They’re just ignoring you anyway.”

“Just stay calm, “ said Erica. “We’ll be fine if you just stay calm.”

Allison glanced at the strange group again. None of them had spoken, but from what they had seen, the creatures had some other way of communicating. Her heart was racing and she became acutely aware of the AC vent above her blowing chilled air across the sheen of sweat on her forehead. Concentrating on keeping her breathing steady, she turned the page.

The girl wasn’t smiling anymore. Her arms were crossed as she looked towards the stairs impatiently. She was tapping her foot. Allison’s heart skipped a beat when the girl stood up suddenly, walked to the nearest bookshelf, grabbed a book and sat back down to read.

“She can read?” asked Lydia.

“Apparently,” replied Melissa.

“But, the creature that was inside of Braeden didn’t even understand English,” commented Isaac. “Maybe she’s faking it.”

“She _is_ one of them, isn’t she, Allison?” asked Scott.

Allison had been so sure the two new arrivals would be devoid of emotion, she hadn’t even tried to feel them out. Reaching out to the girl first, Allison could tell immediately that she wasn’t human, but there was something there. She wasn’t the empty vessel that Braeden had been.

“She’s different,” said Allison. “I don’t know how else to describe it, but she feels sort of metallic? Human emotions are a little indistinct around the edges; they have texture. Softer around the outside and, I don’t know, denser as you go in? Even when people are angry or scared, there’s still that layering. This girl is different. Her emotions are sharp and hard, like there’s no depth to them.”

“What about the new guy?” asked Stiles.

“He feels the same as the older one,” she said. “They both feel like Braeden did. Empty, hollow, like there’s nothing there. But the girl, she’s not like them.”

A few minutes went by and the girl looked up from her book to see if anyone was coming. Seeing no one, she slammed the book closed and got up to leave. The other two stood up to follow her.

“They’re moving!” Allison warned the others. 

She waited until all three were out of sight before she took the beanie off of her head. Leaving the book on the table, she shook out her hair and removed the jacket as she moved to follow them. The trio had reached the bottom of the stairs by the time she started making her way down. She took each step as calmly as she could, reaching the bottom as they reached the front doors of the library.

“They’re exiting the library,” she thought cast to Jackson, Stiles, and Derek.

“We’re on it,” Stiles responded as he got up from the bench and began walking towards the library entrance. Derek and Jackson followed.

Scott met Allison at the base of the stairs. She put the beanie on his head and tied the jacket around her waist.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Grabbing his hand without pausing to stop, she answered, “If they happen to turn around an see us, I don’t want them to wonder if the person behind them is the same person that was sitting a few tables away in the library.”

Looking through their friends’ eyes outside of the building, they saw Derek and Jackson peel off to follow the older man. Stiles continued after the other two, who seemed to be walking together.

“Scott,” Derek thought cast, “I need you with me.”

“What?” Scott asked. “Why? What about Allison? We can’t leave her alone!”

“I felt it, too,” Melissa said. “I don’t know why, but we need you and Lydia with us. Jackson can go with Allison.”

Derek looked at Jackson, who grimaced and turned back the way they came.

“Be careful,” Scott said, as they ran past each other.

Jackson rolled his eyes. “I’m not an idiot, McCall.” He ran up to Allison, who nervously grabbed his hand.

“Keep back,” Stiles thought cast to them. “I’ll let you know if they split up.”

They followed the two students through the school. After a while, it became apparent they were heading to the same place. They were heading towards Stiles’ dorm. Stiles and Braeden’s dorm.

“I wasn’t expecting them to stay together,” said Stiles. “But, this may actually work out in our favor. My dorm room is empty, so is Braeden’s. Maybe those two guys haven’t come back from their road trip yet.”

“Two guys?” asked Jackson, still with Allison, several yards behind.

“The first room we were in,” Stiles answered.

“What are we gonna do?” Allison asked. “The dorm’s gonna be really busy right now, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know,” Stiles replied. “The place was pretty quiet most of the time, actually. But, there might still be people around. We’ll just have to figure it out as we go, I guess.”

Allison looked at Jackson, her eyes squinted with worry. Jackson wished he had something to say that would reassure her, but he was just as scared as she was. In a few minutes, they were at the dorm. The two they followed never once looked over their shoulders. Jackson reasoned they were either so completely sure of themselves that they didn’t worry about being followed, or the thought that someone would be following them simply never crossed their minds.

“Stay out here,” Stiles said. “They’ll notice if all three of us follow them in.”

Stiles followed them through the entrance while Scott and Allison waited at a nearby tree. The girl went up the stairs to the second floor, with the guy right behind her. Knowing where they were headed, Stiles went up the set of stairs on the other side of the courtyard, watching them out of the corner of his eyes. They knocked on Braeden’s door as Stiles passed the room he and the others had stayed in after the fire. The knob on the door had been replaced. He glanced over his shoulder as he came up to his own room. It wasn’t the safest place to hide, as they were undoubtedly aware it was there, but they didn’t seem to notice him as they waited for Braeden to open her door. Using a just a tiny burst of speed, he quickly unlocked the door and slipped into his room. His heart was racing as he eased the curtains apart, peeking through the window through the smallest of openings. The girl looked around curiously, as if Braeden might show up suddenly, but she didn’t seem to know he was nearby.

Seeing no one else on the second floor walkway or in the courtyard, the girl nodded at the guy. He kicked the door near the handle and it flew open. They both stepped inside and closed the door behind them before anyone could come outside to find out what the noise was. Stiles watched as several confused college kids poked their heads from their doors. One guy even came out onto the walkway in his boxers and a T-shirt, but seeing and hearing nothing, went back inside. 

“There’s too many people,” thought cast Jackson. “We can’t go after them in Braeden’s room.”

“Just hold tight,” Stiles said. “We’ll have to wait them out.”

Derek and Scott had been watching while following their own target. The man had been walking at a fairly slow pace and they were actually having difficulty trying to keep back far enough to avoid suspicion. While his slow speed was enough to make him easy to follow, his tweed coat and bald head made him stand out all the more amongst the crowd of college kids meandering about. He led them through the large field at the center of campus and continued walking past several buildings. Derek realized he was walking towards the parking lot.

“Hey guys,” Derek thought cast to everyone. “It looks like he’s headed for his car.”

“Stop him!” John exclaimed.

“How?” asked Scott.

“I don’t know,” John answered. “But, you need to think of something. If he leaves in that car, we might not be able to find him again.”

Scott started jogging and Derek sped up to keep pace.

“Hey! Professor!” Scott shouted, waving his arm. 

Derek gave Scott a look with a raised eyebrow, but Scott just shrugged. 

“All right,” Derek mumbled. “I guess we’re winging it.”

The man continued walking as if he did not hear them. Luckily, he was walking so slowly they had no difficulty catching up to him.

“Professor?” Scott asked, tapping him on the shoulder.

John focused his ability to provide a sense of truth and reality to everything that Scott and Derek said.

“Professor…” Derek said, pausing almost imperceptibly, “Hogan?”

The man turned around with a blank look on his lined face. His nose twitched a little and he smiled, his stubbled cheeks rising as the corners of his eyes crinkled. It would have been a pleasant face if not for the emotionless eyes.

“Why, hello boys,” he said. “Please, call me Gerard. How can I help you?”

“Uh, yes,” said Derek, hoping his abilities would kick in again as he chose a random day, “We’re in your Tuesday class?”

“Which class, the morning class or the one in the evening?” he asked, still smiling.

“The morning one,” Derek answered, both he and Melissa using the full force of their abilities, hoping their guess was right. “We had a question about the lecture last week.”

“Of course,” he replied. “My office isn’t too far from here. Would you both like to come with me to discuss it?”

“Yes,” said Scott with big smile. “That would be great!”

Derek nodded.

“Well then!” the professor said, rubbing his hands together. “It’s right this way!” 

Derek and Scott followed as the professor started walking in the direction they had just come from.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Scott thought cast to Derek.

The professor walked into one of the buildings and down a darkened hall. Derek felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. Professor Hogan pulled his keys out of his pocket and opened one of the doors. He gestured for the two boys to go in.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” said Melissa.

“It’s too late now,” John replied. “We’re already here.”

Derek and Scott sat down in the chairs in front of the desk. The professor flipped the light switch on, then walked around the desk to sit down on the other side. He folded his hands together in front of him and smiled.

“So, what was your question?” he asked.

Scott looked at Derek nervously.

“Go ahead,” thought cast Derek.

Scott looked back to Professor Hogan and swallowed. “I was just wondering,” he said, as beads of sweat broke out on his brow, “if you could go over the main points of the lecture again?”

“Scott,” the professor began, sending a jolt down both of their spines. 

“How did he know my name?” Scott thought cast frantically, though his expression remained frozen in a smile.

“I don’t know,” Derek thought cast back. “I think we’re in trouble.”

The professor, oblivious to their telepathic conversation, continued, “Had you been in class and taken adequate notes, you would at least have the basic idea, but,” he paused to open the drawer on his right. 

Every fiber of Derek’s being was telling him to jump out of the chair and run. The professor pulled a gun from the drawer and pointed it at Scott as their eyes widened in shock.

“As far as I know,” he continued, pulling back the hammer, “You are not enrolled in the History of Women in Engineering.”

Jackson and Allison felt a rush of wind as Stiles ran past them towards Derek and Scott. They started to head in the same direction, but stopped when they heard Lydia’s voice.

“Do not follow him!” she said. “There is nothing either of you can do to help except to stay put and stay out of trouble.” 

“But, he’s pointing a gun at them!” Allison said angrily.

“And, what exactly did you intend to do about it?” Lydia asked. “Get shot? Stiles and Isaac have the abilities to deal with what’s going on with Derek and Scott. We have to deal with the two here in this dorm. Come to think of it, one of you needs to go to the other entrance in case they try to leave from that side.”

“She’s right,” said Jackson.

“Fine, I’ll go,” said Allison, releasing her pent-up breath as she took a step back. “You okay being here by yourself?” she asked.

Jackson smirked. “None of us are ever really alone anymore, right?” he asked, tapping his temple.

Allison nodded and started walking around the building.

“Everything will be fine,” said Erica, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. “You’ll see.”

“I hope you’re right,” Allison replied with a frown, crossing her arms as she walked away. 

Stiles barely noticed any of the people that he ran past on the way to Derek and Scott.

“You need to slow down,” Isaac said as Stiles ran full speed to the professor’s building. “At this rate, you’re going to use up all of our energy reserves before we even get there and you’ll be completely useless to them.”

Stiles slowed to what would look like a fast run to anyone watching him. It took everything in him to not go faster, but Isaac had a point. He would be of no use to Derek or Scott if he arrived completely spent. 

“Just so we’re clear,” added Isaac, “you’re fast enough to dodge one bullet, maybe two, but a third would definitely be pushing it. Assuming you’re fast enough to dodge the first two.” 

* * *

Scott swallowed hard as he stared down the barrel of the gun. He had never had a gun pointed at him before and he was pretty sure he didn’t like it.

“Could you maybe put the gun away?” he asked. 

John was more desperate now for his ability to work than ever before. The professor seemed to waver for a moment and the nozzle of gun dipped briefly before rising again.

“You both were supposed to die in the fire,” Professor Hogan stated. “How did you get out?”

“Stiles will get here any second,” Derek thought cast to Scott, reassuringly. “Don’t answer any of his questions.”

“Please,” said Scott, holding his palms out before him. “We don’t know what you are talking about!”

“We know who you are; we’ve been watching you ever since you moved into that house,” Gerard said, keeping the gun trained on Scott. “I know you know what I’m talking about. What I don’t know is how you two managed to survive the fire. Or, are there more of you?”

Stiles reached the building, stopping just short of the door so that the professor could not see him. Scott could feel the effects of Stiles’ presence almost immediately. When he felt the rush of power as Stiles and Isaac focused their abilities on him, Scott sat up straight and looked the professor directly in the eyes.

“Please put down your gun, so we can talk about this,” Scott insisted, the suggestion almost a palpable physical presence.

Gerard looked confused for a moment, but lowered his arm. When the tip of the gun touched the surface of the desk, Derek braced himself in his chair and kicked out with both feet. The desk flew into Gerard, catching him in the stomach. The gun went off, embedding a bullet into the top of the desk as Derek leapt at the professor, smashing his fist into the man’s face. Professor Hogan’s head fell to the desk with a thud. When Stiles rushed into the room, Derek was still standing with his fists clenched and his chest heaving, waiting to see if the old man was going to move. 

“You two okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, thanks,” Scott answered, visibly shaken. 

Derek had a crazed, panicked look on his face. Stiles approached him cautiously.

“Hey babe,” Stiles said, his arms stretched out. “It’s all right. I don’t think he’s waking up anytime soon.”

Derek turned to look at him. “I’ve never hit anyone before,” he said, sounding almost sad.

Stiles shook his head saying, “Before I got into that fight with Braeden, I never hit anyone either.” He wrapped his arms around Derek, and Derek hugged him back. Stiles looked into his eyes. “He wasn’t really human, you know? Not really. And, he was pointing a gun at you. You did what anyone else would have done.”

Derek nodded as Scott zip tied the professor’s wrists together.

“I need to get back to Jackson and Allison,” Stiles said. “When you finish up in here, I need one of you to join us.”

“I’ll stay with the professor,” said Derek, pulling away from Stiles. “Scott, you should go with him. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Scott tossed Stiles’ beanie back to him, and the roll of duct tape to Derek, who put it on the desk. Stiles left the room and Scott followed him, leaving Derek and Melissa alone with the professor. Derek grabbed the duct tape and put a piece of it over the man’s mouth. He grimaced when he realized how painful it would be when they removed it later. It looked like Gerard hadn’t shaved in a few days. He sighed and shrugged. There was no helping it now. Tearing off a long piece of tape with his teeth, he decided to reinforce the zip tie Scott had used on the man’s wrists. He duct taped the professor to the chair, then sat down to wait.

Stiles met Jackson back at the dorm, Scott a few minutes behind.

“Where’s Allison?” he asked.

“She’s at the entrance on the other side,” Jackson answered, pointing in her direction. 

Stiles reached out to her through their link. “Are they still in there, Allison?” 

Allison squinted and expanded her senses. She could make out the girl’s weird emotional signature, still in Braeden’s room. 

“Yeah,” Allison replied. “They’re still in there.”

Scott jogged up to where Allison was waiting. She smiled when she saw him and threw her arms around his neck.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said as she squeezed him. His emotions were jumbled and sharp-edged, almost jarring.

He hugged her back, relieved to no longer have a gun pointed at him, but still too stunned to speak.

“I’m gonna try to get back into my room,” Stiles announced. “We’ll be able to keep a better eye on them that way. Hopefully, they won’t notice me.”

He crept up the stairs and peeked around the corner. There were a few people in the courtyard below, but no one on the second floor.

“Hey, Allison,” he asked, keeping his eye’s on Braeden’s window. “Can you sense anything I should know about?”

Allison took stock of the emotions coming from Braeden’s room, then included everyone in the dorm for good measure. Everything except for the girl’s strange emotions seemed normal. The girl in question seemed to be waiting patiently with the barest hint of irritation coloring the edges of what she was feeling. She wished desperately she could feel the emotions of the other one, but he either did not have any, or they were so alien that she couldn’t register them.

“Everything seems fine,” she said. “But, be careful. I can only get a read on the girl; I have no idea where the guy is. She seems pretty calm, but I can’t tell if she’s looking out the window or not.”

“Don’t worry,” Stiles answered. “Even if she is looking out the window, she won’t notice anything unless she’s looking directly at my door when I go through it.” He took a few deep breaths as he palmed his key. “Isaac,” he said. “I’m gonna need you to pile on the juice. We need to move as fast as possible from here to my room.”

Stiles felt a slight tingling sensation course through his limbs. He took another deep breath as time seemed to slow. Bouncing a little on the balls of his feet, he focused, causing time to slow even more. When the people in the courtyard seemed to come to a stop, he bolted for his room. He managed to get the key into the lock and turn the doorknob without stopping, and he slipped inside. 

Time resumed its normal pace as he shut the door and peeked out the window. He heard a slight rustle behind him, but wasn’t fast enough to stop the searing white pain from flashing through his skull when something hard came crashing down on top of his head. He gasped as someone grabbed him and smashed his forehead down on the windowsill, another burst of white exploding before his eyes.


	14. Hog Tied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Stiles knocked unconscious, and Derek too far to help, Allison, Scott, and Jackson must attempt a rescue before things go from bad to worse.

“Stiles!” Derek screamed as he bolted upright. He looked nervously at the professor, bound and gagged in his chair. He couldn’t leave. “What’s going on out there guys?” he asked, trying to restrain himself from running over to find out on his own.

“I can’t feel him!” Allison answered anxiously. “And, the girl’s moving. I think she’s headed towards Stiles’ room!”

“Stop her!” yelled Derek, jumping out of his chair and slamming his fist onto the desk.

Allison and Scott looked at each other, then ran into the building, with Jackson coming in from the other side. The girl looked down at them from the walkway, scowled, and started to run. Allison and Scott ran up the stairs to her right, while Jackson came up the stairs on her left. Trapped with Jackson on one side and Allison and Scott on the other, she grabbed the railing and vaulted over it, dropping to the courtyard below. Her feet hit the floor first, but her momentum drove the rest of her body to the ground, and she collapsed in an ungraceful heap. Quickly getting back up on her feet, she took off through the entranceway. 

Scott grabbed the rail and jumped after her. Unlike the girl, he only needed one hand to break his fall and he was up and running before he fully stopped.

“Go find Stiles,” he yelled to Allison and Jackson. “I’ll take care of this one.”

They watched as Scott ran out of the building, then turned their attention to Stiles’ room. Allison led the way, having been there several times before.

“Do you feel anything?” Jackson asked.

Allison shook her head. “You?”

“No, nothing,” said Jackson. “I can’t form a link to him.”

“This is his room.” Allison said, stopping in front of his door. She looked at Jackson and asked, “Are you ready?”

He nodded and she reached for the doorknob. It wasn’t locked. She pushed it open to find Stiles unconscious on the floor. Gasping, she was about to rush to his side, but Jackson held her back.

“Wait,” he said. “There’s a reason he’s lying on the floor. Someone’s in here.”

He stepped in front of her and pushed the door open all the way. They could see no one else in the room. He walked through the door and Allison followed, closing the door behind her. She dropped down and cradled Stiles’ face in her hands.

“Hey, Stiles,” she said, patting him gently on the cheek. “Come on, you have to wake up.”

Jackson began to look around the room as Allison tried to revive their friend. The bathroom door was closed. Jackson tapped Allison on the shoulder and pointed at it when she looked up. She rose to her feet. As Jackson approached the door, Allison looked around for some kind of weapon. The only thing she could find was an old tennis racket. Gripping it like a baseball bat over her shoulder, she prepared to defend herself as Jackson placed his hand on the doorknob. He began thought casting the count so that only Allison could hear.

“One, two, three!” he yelled as he yanked open the door. 

Allison screamed as a tall form rushed at her from the bathroom. She recognized him immediately as the guy who had been at the table with Gerard and the girl. She swung the racket down at his head, but he brought up his arms to shield himself and shoved her to the side. Jackson flew into him from behind and tackled him to the ground. Jackson tried to keep him down, but soon found himself crashing into the wall after taking a kick to the stomach.

Allison tried to hit their assailant with the racket while he was still on the floor, but he rolled out of the way. Snatching the racket out of her hands, he grabbed her foot and toppled her to the ground. Jackson leapt onto him and tried to restrain his arms, but the larger man managed to shake him off and regain his footing. Jackson, still on the floor, tried to kick their attacker’s feet out from under him, but the man jumped out of the way. Allison picked up the solitary chair and hurled it with all of her strength, catching the man in the chest and causing him to stagger. She quickly reached down and pulled Jackson to his feet before their opponent could recover, then started throwing random objects from Stiles’ desk like projectile weapons: a stapler, his pencil mug, a paperweight, his drawing compass. The man used the racket each time to deflect the projectiles and Allison quickly ran out of things to throw. Her eyes went wide as he took a step forward and raised the tennis racket, preparing to strike her down, but Allison stepped forward and delivered a solid right cross to his chin, dropping him to the floor.

“Where did that come from?” asked Jackson, smiling weakly as he braced himself against the desk to keep from falling over.

“My parents put me in karate for a year when I was eight. I guess it just came back to me,” she answered as she pulled a zip tie from her pocket. 

Outside, Scott was chasing after the girl, who seemed to be limping slightly. He looked around at the groups of college students roaming through the campus in the early evening. All he could do was follow her. There was no way he could tackle her in the field with dozens of students watching. He would just have to follow and hope she didn’t do anything that would draw too much attention to herself. She looked back and saw him, then looked around quickly, and seemed to choose a building at random to run to. It was the performing arts building, a building Scott was completely unfamiliar with. 

They ran past several classes that were still in session as he gradually ate up the distance between them. She glanced back at him again and ducked into the theater. He squinted, trying to find her, but it was almost impossible to see anything in the pitch black of the theater, despite how good his eyes were now. The girl had chosen her hiding place well. He slowly walked down the aisle closest to him, carefully checking each row of chairs to see if she had hidden herself there as his vision adjusted to the darkness. The room was huge, probably big enough to hold at least a thousand people in the audience, not to mention the stage and the area behind it. He didn’t have time for this, and he was afraid that she would slip by him through one of the many exits.

“Hey, Allison,” he thought cast. “I need your help. I followed her into the performing arts theater, but she’s hiding in here somewhere. Can you see if you can feel anything?”

“It doesn’t work that far away,” she answered, looking at Jackson. “I’ll be there in a second.”

Jackson nodded at her as she ran from Stiles’ room. Scott sat down in one of the cushy theater seats and tried to remain as still as possible, listening for any sign of movement. Allison reached the building in a few minutes and threw her senses out like a net before her, looking for the girl’s telltale emotional signature.

“Scott!” she thought cast. “She’s right behind you!”

Scott leapt out of his chair as a music stand came crashing down on the back of it. He scrambled to get back on his feet just in time to duck back down when the music stand came swinging at his head. The door to the theater slammed open and they both turned to see Allison framed in the light of the hallway.

“Stay away from him, bitch!” Allison screamed as she came running down the aisle.

The girl turned back to Scott, lifted the music stand over her head and swung it down at him hard. He jumped back as it crashed into the floor, but she lifted it quickly and thrust forward, knocking the wind out of him as it caught him in the stomach. She brought the stand around at his head again and Scott lifted his arms to block it, his left arm cracking loudly against the sturdy metal pole as he grunted and fell to the floor. 

Allison reached their row and started running towards them. Dropping the music stand, the girl made a break for it. Scott grabbed at her foot, and although he was unable to hold on to her, it was enough to make her fall, and she came crashing to the floor with a yelp. Allison was on top of her in an instant, putting all of her weight on the one knee she had on the girl’s back to keep her down.

“Get off of me!” the girl demanded as she tried to squirm away.

“Yeah, not happening,” Allison said, pulling a zip tie from her back pocket. “Hey Scott, this is my last one,” she said as she pulled the girl’s hands together behind her back and tied her wrists together. “You’re gonna have to get her feet.”

“I can’t,” Scott answered, holding his zip ties out for Allison. “I think she broke my arm.”

She looked over to him and saw that he was holding his left arm against his chest. She took the zip ties and straddled the girl’s legs so she could tie her ankles together.

“You can’t keep me here!” the girl snarled, her face ugly with rage. “Let me go right now, or I swear this will be the end of you!”

Allison ripped off a piece of duct tape and slapped it on the girl’s mouth.

“Shut up!” she yelled. “You’re trying to kill us anyway, remember?”

If looks could kill, Allison knew she would have been a bloody mess on the floor. Keeping one foot on the girl’s back, she helped Scott rise to his feet.

“Now we wait for dark,” said John. “Hopefully we can wake up Stiles by then and head back to the apartment so we can find out who these people are.”

“How’s he doing, Jackson?” Scott asked.

Jackson went to the bed where he’d moved Stiles and looked down at their unconscious friend. “He is still not moving,” Jackson answered. 

“What about the guy that attacked us?” asked Allison.

“He’s awake now, but he won’t look at me,” Jackson said. “He’s acting like Braeden. He won’t look at anything and he doesn’t answer when I talk to him.”

“Just keep your distance,” said Scott. “We’ll deal with him together when we get back to the apartment. What about you, Derek? How’re you doin’ over there?”

“We’re fine,” Derek replied. “The professor’s still out. He’s gonna be waking up soon though. Don’t worry about Stiles; he’ll wake up before we need to leave.”

They were all quiet for a moment as they thought about what they needed to do next.

“You’re gonna have to carry her,” Scott said to Allison, apologetically.

Allison shrugged. “She doesn’t look like she weighs very much. I made it all the way to the apartments carrying Braeden and Jackson,” she said. “Carrying her will be a lot easier than that was, as long as she doesn’t move around too much.”

She walked over to where the girl was lying on the floor and spoke to her loudly and slowly as if the girl would have difficulty understanding her words. “Well, are you going to behave, or am I going to have to hit your head with something heavy and hard?”

The girl narrowed her gaze, but otherwise did not respond.

“I think we understand each other,” Allison said to Scott. “Besides, if she struggles too much, I might accidentally drop her,” she continued, looking the girl directly in the eyes.

Scott smiled at her and pulled her close with his uninjured arm. “How did I end up with such a classy girl like you?”

She smiled and kissed him. “Just lucky, I guess.”

He winced a little when she brushed up against his arm.

“Oh, sorry!” she exclaimed.

He shook his head. “No, it’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

“I guess we need to get you to a doctor, huh?” said Allison, her brow furrowed as she looked up at him.

“You’ll be fine,” said John. “Your arm should be healed by tomorrow morning.”

Scott raised his eyebrows. “Cool, solves that problem. You know, come to think of it, I’ve broken my arm before,” he said, grimacing as he stretched it out a little. “It doesn’t hurt as much this time. I think it’s already starting to feel better.”

“Don’t push it,” said Erica.

“Just hold it still next to your chest so you don’t injure it more,” scolded Allison, as she gently pushed his arm back to its original position.

“Yes, mom,” said Scott, smiling at her concern.

She ignored him as she untied the jacket from her waist. “You know, I think we can use this to make a sling,” she said as she slipped it beneath his arm and tied the sleeves around his neck. She stood back to admire her work. “It’s not perfect, but it’ll do as long as it reminds you not to move it.”

Scott sighed and sat down. “How much longer do we have to stay here?” he asked.

Jackson, the only one with easy access to an outside window, peeked through the curtains. “It is still pretty bright outside,” he said. “I think it’s gonna to be a while before we can move.”

He heard moaning and turned to see Stiles trying to sit up in his bed.

“What happened?” Stiles mumbled. 

Jackson squatted down next you him. “You got hit on the head,” he said, squinting at him.

“What hit me?” Stiles asked groggily.

“He did,” Jackson answered, pointing to the young man tied up on the floor.

Stiles got out of the bed to stand over him. “Humph. He’s lucky he caught me off guard.” Stiles squatted down next to him, but their hostage didn’t seem to notice. “He’s as chatty as Braeden was, isn’t he?”

Jackson stood up, frowned and shook his head. “He hasn’t tried to move at all since he woke up.”

Stiles shook his head vigorously, trying to get rid of last bit of fogginess. “All right,” he said, heading towards the door. “Back to the plan. I’m going back to the apartment to get the rebar. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

“Okay,” said Jackson.

Stiles ran back to the apartments, the air rushing over his skin refreshing him. He got back without incident, but he heard screaming when he opened the front doors. It was pretty easy for him to guess who it might be.

“Help! Somebody help me!” he heard as he ran up the stairs and down the hall to their apartment.

“Please! Somebody! Anybody!” 

He opened the door and found Braeden struggling against her bindings. She looked up when she heard him enter, her face dirty and streaked with tears.

“Oh my God! Stiles! Help me! Help me!” she pleaded. “Please! Get me out of here!”

Stiles rushed to her side. “Braeden? Is that you?”

“Stiles,” she said, sobbing. “Please, help me. I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Okay, okay, just hold on a minute,” he said as he pretended to examine her wrists. “You’re tied up pretty good here,” he said, looking around the room. “I don’t have anything I can use to cut you free. How did you get here?” he asked.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know,” she sobbed. “Just please, untie me.”

“Okay,” he said, rising to his feet. “I’m gonna have to get something to cut you free.”

“No!” she yelled hysterically. “Please! Don’t leave! You can’t leave me here! What if they come back?”

“Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ll only be gone for a minute.”

She closed her eyes and began sobbing into the carpet. “Please, hurry,” she managed to croak out.

He took the opportunity to grab the pieces of rebar and leave the apartment. He felt bad leaving her there, but they couldn’t let her go yet.

“Hey guys, we have a problem,” he thought cast to everyone. “Braeden’s awake, and she’s pretty freaked out. We can’t just leave her alone for the next few hours while we wait for it to get dark.”

“You sure it was Braeden?” asked Scott. “ ‘Cause the girl we got here is doing a pretty good job at pretending to be human.”

“I think so,” Stiles answered. “The only way we’re gonna know for sure is for Allison and Jackson to get inside her head and check her out.”

“I can go now,” Allison offered. “Scott doesn’t need help babysitting.”

“I think she should go now, too” said John, “even if it’s just to make sure no one else goes into the building. Someone walking by might hear Braeden if she decides to start yelling again. Don’t let her see you though,” he added. “Wait for me. We’ll talk to her together.”

Allison nodded. “Got it.” She leaned down to kiss Scott. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

She left the performing arts building as Stiles was nearing Professor Hogan’s office. Derek ran down the hallway to meet him and crushed Stiles to his chest.

“Don’t scare me like that,” he whispered, his mouth close to Stiles’ ear.

Stiles pulled away a little so he could look into Derek’s eyes and smiled. “We need to stop doing this to each other,” he said, wryly.

Derek smiled back and kissed him. “Come on,” he said, pulling Stiles by the hand. “He’s over here.”

He led Stiles to Professor Hogan’s office where the professor was still duct taped to his chair, his head lolling to one side with some drool oozing from the corner of his mouth. The left side of his face was starting to get red and puffy.

“Geez!” exclaimed Stiles. “How hard did you hit him?”

Derek shrugged. “I don’t know. How hard are you supposed to hit people?”

Stiles sighed and shook his head as he started tearing off the duct tape that was holding the professor to the chair. Derek helped and they had him freed from the chair in a few minutes.

“I can’t believe he had a gun,” Stiles said, shaking his head as he pulled off the last of the tape. “You think he had it before or after he got possessed?” he asked, looking up at Derek.

“Who knows?” Derek answered. “I guess we can find out after we get rid of the thing inside of him.”

“Yeah,” Stiles replied as he picked up a piece of rebar. “Can you hold him up while I do this?”

“Sure,” said Derek as he lifted the professor out of the chair. “How do you want him?”

“I need his arms to be next to his sides, so maybe you could hold him near his elbows from the outside,” Stiles said, pointing to where Derek needed to hold him.

Derek, who had originally lifted Gerard up by the armpits, quickly made the adjustments that Stiles asked for and watched as Stiles started to shape the rebar. Stiles formed it into a hoop around the professor’s upper arms and torso. Derek doubted that anyone, including Stiles, would be able to get out of such a contraption.

“I can’t believe how crazy strong you are now,” Derek commented, smiling.

Stiles felt heat rushing to his face. “Stop it,” he said as he finished the hoop, bending it so that there was no way the professor could escape, but being careful not to injure him.

Derek laughed and sat the professor back down on the chair. “Well, you are,” he continued, as he pulled a zip tie from his back pocket and knelt down to tie Gerard’s feet together. 

“All right,” he said, standing up. “We’re all done here. You better get to the others so Scott can get back to the apartment.”

“I’ll see you soon,” Stiles said from the office door.

“Be careful,” Derek said, his eyes softening.

Stiles smiled at him. “I will,” he replied and left Derek with only the professor for company again.

The courtyard was still empty when Stiles got to the dorm, and he was able to slip into his room without incident.

“Hey,” he said in greeting to Jackson, as he rummaged through his desk. Finding the scissors, he shoved them into his pocket. 

“You know this is crazy, right?” Jackson asked.

“Understatement of the century, man,” Stiles replied.

Jackson watched while Stiles bent the rebar around the young man’s torso. Like Braeden before the alien thing came out of her mouth, he did not move or look at anything as Stiles worked. Stiles didn’t understand how they could go from full-fledged fight mode one moment, to an almost catatonic state the next. If he were in their position, he would have been trying to figure out ways to escape, but then again, he didn’t get the impression that the black blobs with teeth were very smart. 

“Sit tight,” Stiles said, rising to his feet. “We should all be back at the apartment soon. 

Jackson grimaced as Stiles stepped out the door. Allison made it to the apartment lobby before Stiles got to the performing arts building.

“I’m here,” she thought cast to the others. She pushed out her senses to find the only other person in the building. Braeden’s emotions were strong with fear and anger. She was beginning to show signs of exhaustion, but her determination was fierce, even as it was becoming tinged with helplessness. “I think she’s okay,” Allison said. “She feels normal.”

“All right,” said Scott. “Just wait for me. I’ll be there soon, okay?”

“I feel bad for her,” said Erica.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Melissa replied. “This will all be over for her soon.”

Stiles found Scott sitting in the dark with the girl tied up at his feet. She glared at Stiles as he approached, but her eyes went wide when she saw the rebar and she started struggling against the zip ties. She tried to scream through the duct tape when Stiles knelt down next to her, her wild eyes fiery with fear and hatred.

“Looks like we got a live one here!” Stiles said, standing up and looking at Scott in surprise.

Scott nodded. “Yeah, she’s not like the others. See?” Scott said, pointing at the sling. “She even broke my arm.”

“Crap!” Stiles exclaimed. “How’d she do that?”

Scott nodded at the music stand still on the floor. “With that.”

“Wow,” Stiles replied, dropping one of the pieces of rebar on the ground. “Well, I guess you can’t help me with this, then.”

The girl started jerking against her bonds again and started yelling against the duct tape. He knelt back down next to her.

“You need to calm down,” Stiles said to her sternly. “Look, I’m not gonna hurt you, but if you put up a fight, you might end up hurting yourself. Do you understand?”

The girl stopped struggling, but she still looked at Stiles with all of the loathing she could muster. Avoiding her gaze, he lifted her slightly and slid the rebar beneath her. He took both ends and bent them up and around her back, then pushed them down for a snug fit. 

“She won’t be getting out of that any time soon,” commented Scott.

“Nope, not unless we let her,” agreed Stiles. “Here,” he said, holding out the scissors to Scott. “Go ahead and meet up with Allison. You’re gonna need these to cut the zip ties off of Braeden. I’ll keep an eye on the girl.”

Scott took the scissors and left the theater. The girl was glaring at him. 

“This girl’s different,” he said to Isaac. “She’s not like the others. She scares me.”

“It’s not just the girl,” Isaac replied. “The professor didn’t act like Braeden or the guy that Jackson’s watching, either.”

“I know,” Stiles replied, receiving an impression from Jackson of how bright it was outside of his bedroom window. It would be dark soon. He crossed his arms and sat down in one of the theater seats, waiting for the night to come.


	15. Difficult Dinner Guests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that they've captured the aliens that are trying to kill them, what are they going to do with them?

Scott walked through the lobby door of the apartment complex and found Allison waiting for him in the lone chair behind the counter.

“Are you ready,” he asked.

She nodded and started down the hallway to the stairs. It had been quiet since she arrived and she wondered if Braeden had fallen asleep. Reaching out with her senses, she could tell that Braeden was still awake, but had calmed down somewhat. When they got to the door, she turned to Scott.

“This is gonna be weird for her,” she said. “She doesn’t know either of us.”

“You’re right,” Scott replied. “What should we do?”

Sighing, Allison shook her head and shrugged. She opened the door and was immediately greeted by Braeden’s frantic yelling.

“Help!” she screamed. “Who’s there? Please help me!”

“It’s okay,” Allison said, walking into the room. “Stiles sent us.”

“Stiles sent you?” Braeden asked, confused. Allison’s heart broke for her. Her emotions were a mess and her face was dirty from crying and lying on the dusty floor.

“Yes,” Scott answered. “Look,” he said, frowning slightly. “There isn’t an easy way to explain this, but we have to ask you some questions before we can let you go.”

“What are you talking about?” Braeden asked, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them. Allison could feel Braeden’s fear and anger beginning to resurface, her bloodshot eyes glistening. “Who are you people? Did you bring me here? What’s going on?” she asked as she desperately tried to scoot away from them.

“You don’t remember how you got here?” asked Allison as gently as she could.

Braeden turned to Allison and started sobbing. “Why aren’t you letting me go? Why are you asking me these questions?” She closed her eyes and shook her head as she cried into the floor. “I don’t know anything.”

Allison turned to Scott and he nodded at her. 

“Are you sure we can do this?” she thought cast to the others.

“We have to do something,” Erica said. “We can’t leave her like this. It’s cruel.”

Braeden was confused, and she felt completely helpless. She had long since given up on freeing herself and was scared that whoever had taken her would show up at any minute. When Scott and Allison first arrived, she thought that they were there to rescue her, but now she was beginning to wonder if they were actually the ones who kidnapped her. Not yet completely resigned to her fate, she was nevertheless exhausted, and would willingly accept a simple suggestion in her current state.

“Sleep,” Scott said as softly as he could. “You’re tired and you need to rest. All of this, it’s just a bad dream, and in a little while, you’re gonna wake up, and you won’t even remember it. But first, you have to sleep.”

They listened as her breathing grew softer and Scott held his finger to his lips.

“This is all we can do for her right now,” he thought cast to Allison. “We need to wait for the others.”

“Do you have a plan?” asked Allison.

Scott shook his head, but it was John’s voice that she heard. “She’s clean, as far as we can tell, but, we can’t just let her go. This was a very traumatic experience for her and she’s seen us, not to mention that she actually knows Stiles. This could all go very wrong for us if we don’t handle it right. We need to disappear from her memory.”

“You mean brainwash her?” asked Allison, horrified.

“No, not really,” John said. “Besides, I don’t think we’re even capable of doing something like that. We need to wait for Jackson and Lydia to get here so they can link with her and take a peek inside. Until then, we won’t know anything for sure.”

Allison seemed to deflate a little. “I guess we just wait, then.”

The light dimmed as they kept watch over Braeden. Every time she seemed to start to wake up, Scott would give her another suggestion sending her back to sleep, which she readily accepted in her semi-conscious state. 

Stiles arrived first, before it was fully dark, carrying the girl from the theater. He unloaded his cargo onto one of the chairs and securely duct taped her into it. The others didn’t have Stiles’ speed and so they waited for night to fall before attempting to make the trip back. Derek arrived next with the professor, and they were soon joined by Jackson, who had the young man that Scott and Allison had battled earlier. The three captives were all quickly duct taped to chairs around the table in the dining room.

Jackson looked at his friends. They were tired, dirty, disoriented, and for the most part bewildered by everything that had happened to them over the last few days. Like Allison and Erica, he and Lydia were privy to thoughts and emotions that the others were not necessarily aware that they were sharing. He and Lydia kept everyone connected whenever they were awake, and while each of his friends, and the aliens they were hosts to, could choose the recipients of specific thoughts or impressions, everything was channeled directly through his head. So he heard it all, including their unguarded stray thoughts, because his friends had not yet learned to filter what came through the link. He rarely heard anything unintentional from the aliens, as they were more familiar with that form of communication. At first, he thought the almost constant nattering would drive him insane, but he had since learned in his short time with the ability to tune out the vast majority of it.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. He was just as tired as the rest of them, but there was at least one thing he had to do before he rested. Carefully, he linked his mind to Braeden’s and let the others know what he was sensing.

“It seems like there’s not that much that she needs to forget,” he thought cast. 

“It seems like the times she was under the control of that smoke ball thing are pretty much blank for her,” Lydia added, “but we won’t know for sure until we can all have a look inside of her head together. I think all we have to do is implant a suggestion that she’s been at home sick for a few days. If the suggestion is strong enough, she’ll never think back to that time and it’ll be like none of this ever happened. There’s not really any reason why she would ever question it, because she's missed all of her classes and no one’s seen her except us.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Scott said, nodding.

“Wait, what are we doing?” asked Derek.

“We’re going to make her forget about us,” said John.

“You can do that?” asked Stiles.

“More or less,” John answered. “Afterwards, we can untie her and you can bring her back to her room. She can live the rest of her life as if none of this ever happened,” he concluded.

“What about her door?” asked Jackson. “She’s gonna wonder why it’s broken, and that might make her remember all of this,” he added as he gestured around the room.

“Well, we did break the door of the room that we were staying in before,” commented Allison, thinking out loud. “If we add another suggestion to make her think she had left her room at one point and came back to find her door broken, she’ll report it, and the campus police will think there’s some kind of ‘door-breaking vandal’ on the loose.”

“As long as we leave everything in her room the way that we find it, there’s no reason why the police will do any kind of in-depth investigation,” said Lydia.

“I guess so,” agreed Jackson.

“It’ll work,” said Derek, nodding definitively.

Everyone was quiet for a while, which Jackson accepted as a consensus, so he turned to Braeden and connected to her mind, and through him, connected her to everyone else. It would be much easier for Scott and John to plant the suggestion in her dream state, especially with Stiles and Isaac nearby. Allison and Erica provided feedback on how Braeden was responding to the suggestions, allowing them to make adjustments where necessary, while Lydia solidified the different images Scott and John needed to make the suggestions as realistic as possible. Scott didn’t want to hurt her, but he wanted to make the illness as miserable as possible so that she would avoid those memories. John slipped in details here and there, such as the chills she would feel from the fever and the pain that the light would cause when her head was throbbing.

When they were done, they cut the zip ties off and Stiles carried her back to her room. Exhausted from the ordeal, Jackson curled up on the floor thinking he would take a short nap and was asleep when Stiles returned, forcing them to speak audibly until he and Lydia woke up.

“Look,” Stiles said, as he walked through the door. “I don’t know about you, but I’m beat. I think we should deal with those three tomorrow.”

Allison was sitting on the floor with Scott’s head in her lap. “I’m all for that,” said Scott, closing his eyes. 

“I can stay up and keep an eye on them,” offered Allison as she ran her fingers through the hair behind Scott’s ear.

“I’ll stay up with you,” said Derek, as he sat down next to her. “I’ve spent way too much time sleeping lately,” he said, flashing her his big toothy grin.

Stiles lay down next to him and was soon asleep, Derek rubbing his back absentmindedly as he slept. Derek turned to look at their hostages sitting at the table, and it suddenly occurred to him during another one of his flashes that the young man’s name was Aiden.

“His name is Aiden,” he whispered to Allison.

“Whose name?” she asked.

“The guy you and Jackson beat up,” he said, nodding his head towards Aiden, who like Braeden before him, was sitting staring straight ahead with a blank expression on his face.

Strangely enough, the professor appeared to be asleep, but the girl was glaring at them. She gave him the creeps.

“What about her?” asked Allison. “What’s her name?”

Derek shrugged. “I don’t know. It hasn’t come to me yet.”

“We could ask her,” Allison suggested. The girl turned away from them.

“You think that’s safe?” asked Derek, raising his eyebrows.

“We’re just gonna take the tape off her mouth,” Allison said as she gently lowered Scott’s head to the floor. “Even if she yells, who’s gonna hear her?”

She stood up and brushed herself off. The girl watched warily as she approached. Allison reached out slowly and pinched the corner of the tape on the girl’s mouth between her fingers. The girl winced a little as Allison pulled it off but did not make any noise.

“So,” Allison began as she sat in one of the empty chairs. “Are you going to tell us your name?”

The girl seemed to mull it over for a while, then gave her a condescending smile and a one-word answer: “Violet.”

For all of her bravado, Allison could tell that the girl was scared, but she couldn’t tell if she was lying. She glanced at Derek, who was still sitting on the floor, but he just shrugged.

“I suppose we have no choice except to believe you,” said Allison, monitoring Violet’s emotions for any changes as she spoke. 

She wished she could communicate with Derek without the girl knowing, but it wasn’t worth waking up Jackson. Derek decided to get up at that point and join them at the table, but instead of sitting in one of the chairs, he stood with his arms crossed, hoping it would intimidate her. It didn’t.

“What are you supposed to be?” Violet asked with a sneer. “Did you choose that body because of the way it looks? Well, I’m sorry, but I’m not impressed.”

Allison narrowed her gaze. The girl wasn’t bluffing. Violet was scared, but not as scared as she should have been, considering she and her associates were being held captive by the very people they were trying to kill mere hours before. Derek, on the other hand, refused to let the small and somewhat obnoxious girl get a rise out of him. On the contrary, he was genuinely amused by Violet’s reaction to him, though his face did not show it. He just continued to look at Violet doing a decent impression of Aiden’s blank stare.

“Sorry Violet, but Derek here’s not much of a talker,” Allison lied.

Luckily, Violet had diverted her gaze to Allison and did not notice the almost imperceptible widening of Derek’s eyes at Allison’s description of him.

“So, what are you exactly, anyway?” asked Allison. “I mean, why are we so important to you? Don’t you have better things to do than watch us all the time?”

The girl continued to glare at her, so Allison stared back, feeling the girl’s sharp-edged emotions subtly shift from fear to irritation. If only she could figure out what buttons to push.

“We know there are more of you out there,” said Derek suddenly, catching Allison off guard. She hoped her surprise did not show on her face.

The girl simply turned to him with a smug smile on her face. The hairs stood up on the back of Allison’s neck. She didn’t think she would ever get used to Derek’s ability to just pull information out thin air. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to find that the professor had woken up and was blinking to clear his vision. In a flash of inspiration, she grabbed the tape on his mouth and ripped it off with a one quick swipe of her hand. Gerard howled and was wide-awake in an instant. She looked at her friends still sleeping on the floor, but none of them stirred.

“Let us go right now!” he demanded.

“Yeah?” she asked, the tape still dangling from her finger. “Or, what?”

“We can make you suffer in ways you can’t even imagine,” the professor threatened in a low and menacing growl.

Allison raised one eyebrow. “Really?” she asked. “ ‘Cause, as far as I can tell, you can’t even get yourself out of that chair.”

“If I were you,” Violet replied, “I would be more worried about myself. You have no idea what we’re capable of. We have been waiting to meet you for a very long time.”

Allison could feel none of the emotions that might or might not be behind the professor’s words, but she could tell that Violet was pretty sure of herself. And, angry.

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to see won’t we?” said Allison with a smile that revealed nothing as she carefully pressed a fresh piece of tape onto the professor’s mouth.

Covering a yawn with one hand, Allison stood up. “Do you want me to tape this one’s mouth shut, too?” she asked Derek, gesturing at Violet.

“No,” he answered as he took her place in the chair. “You never know, she might say something interesting.” He looked up at Allison as she yawned again. “You should get some rest,” he said. “I’ll stay up.”

“Are you sure?” Allison asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” he said, waving her away. “Besides, if these three try anything, all of you are only a few feet away.”

Allison nodded and curled up next to Scott on the floor. Arms still crossed, Derek took a moment to examine the petite girl tied to the chair in front of him. He guessed she was 5’3” or 5’4” and couldn’t have weighed much more than a hundred pounds. She had a coffee and cream complexion, her oval face framed by long black hair, and she was wearing a white cardigan over a baby blue blouse with tiny white flowers on it. There was a tear in the right knee of her denim capris from when she had jumped from the second floor of Stiles’ dorm. The ensemble was completed with a simple pair flats that had probably started off as white at some point, but had since taken on a slightly dingy grey hue. He had seen this girl in action and didn’t think that it was possible that she picked out such an outfit for herself. The girl she was possessing was probably really sweet and didn’t deserve what was happening to her body right now.

“What are you looking at?” she snapped suddenly, not bothering to hide her irritation. “God! Are you as stupid as you look?”

Derek cocked his head to one side as if he couldn’t figure out what she was. “Are you even a girl?” he asked.

“What are you talking about?” she rebuffed incredulously. “Of course I’m a girl! What are you, blind?”

Gerard tried to say something, but it was muffled by the duct tape. Violet took her eyes off of Derek for a moment to glance at the professor. For just a moment, both defiance and contrition flashed across her face, and then she turned back to Derek with her lips pressed firmly together. She took a deep breath and narrowed her gaze as her face assumed its normal expression of pinched stubbornness. Derek smiled and chuckled to himself as he pulled a piece of duct tape off the roll.

“I guess that’s all I’m getting out of you tonight, huh?” he asked, holding the tape up to her face. She didn’t respond. “Are you sure? Last chance,” he said, moving the tape a little bit closer. “All right,” he said with a shrug when she remained silent. “You asked for it.” He pressed the tape to her mouth and went to stand by the window.

“I don’t know if you should tease her like that,” Melissa said, sounding slightly concerned. “If she ever has the chance to exact her revenge on you, it won’t be pretty.”

“You saw what happened,” replied Derek, defending himself. “I was just trying to get some kind of reaction from her. She obviously started to say something the professor didn’t want her to. That’s why she stopped talking. If we can just get one of them to slip, we might actually learn something.”

“Maybe tomorrow we can separate them,” Melissa suggested.

“That’s a good idea. You know what? I think I’ll separate them right now!” he said as he walked over to the professor’s chair. 

The professor struggled and yelled against the duct tape as Derek lifted him up, chair and all, and walked into the short hallway leading to the bedrooms. He put the chair down in the room at the end of the hall, leaving the door open so he could keep an eye on all three of them at the same time.

“That works,” he said, returning Violet’s scornful gaze. “Now, we wait for the sun to come up.”


	16. You Win Some, You Lose Some

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aliens are like chocolates; you can't tell what's inside just by looking at one.

The first rays of the rising sun touched Derek’s face as the morning breeze wafted through the open window, bringing with it the smell of the dew on the grass and car exhaust from the early morning commuters. He pulled the window shut and closed the curtains to keep the room dark and the noise down. Aiden, as always, was staring blankly ahead of himself. Everyone else, including Violet and Gerard, was asleep. Aiden had not moved at all during the night; he barely seemed to blink or breathe. 

Derek sat down next to Stiles and watched him sleep. As Stiles’ chest rose and fell, he found himself smiling, realizing that this was the first time he had ever had a chance to watch Stiles while he was sleeping. Stiles’ face was peaceful, his features relaxed and free of the tension that seemed to have settled there after the bonding. Before they had all learned about this dangerous underground world of aliens, possessed humans, and super powers, Stiles had been the most carefree one in the group. He was always joking around and loved showing them all of the funny things he found on the Internet so they could all laugh at them.

The bonding had changed him, though Derek would never blame the change on Isaac. From what he understood, Isaac was the perfect counterpart for Stiles. Though Isaac was hundreds of years old, by the standards of his kind he was still a young adolescent male and the most impulsive and free-spirited of the five. It was only his ability, which made him stronger and faster than the others, that burdened him with so much responsibility. That two such personalities were not free to express their normal exuberance for life was a tragedy. As Derek gently caressed Stiles’ cheek with the back of his hand, he vowed that someday, they would not have to worry so much. There was a soft rustling, and he turned to see Jackson roll over.

“Morning,” he said, looking into Jackson’s bleary eyes.

Jackson scowled, rubbed his eyes with his fists, and sat up.

“Morning,” Jackson groused, standing up, stretching and reestablishing his link to Derek and Melissa. He looked around the apartment with his hands on his hips. “Why’d you put the professor in the other room?” he asked.

“We thought it would be better to keep them separated,” Derek thought cast back to him, standing up to join him. Derek squinted at the sleeping professor and crossed his arms. “Allison and I were trying to get Violet to talk last night, and Professor Hogan did something to make her stop.” He turned to Jackson. “It could have just been the look on his face or something, but she clamed up. I got the feeling she was about to say something interesting.”

Looking back at Gerard, he continued, “We have no idea how they communicate with each other. We already know they don’t have to talk out loud, but we don’t know what their range is.” He scratched his head and turned to Jackson again. “Their range isn’t as far as ours, otherwise they would have known about what happened to Braeden.” Gesturing at the distance between Violet and the professor, he said, “Being this far apart might mean nothing to them, but I figured if separating them doesn’t actually accomplish anything, at least it couldn’t hurt.”

The professor snorted, waking himself up. His face slowly took on a look of indignation as his vision cleared and he realized he was being watched. 

“We should wake the others,” said Jackson.

Derek looked down at Stiles. “Yup,” he answered, crouching down. 

He placed his hand on Stiles’ shoulder and shook him gently. Stiles’ eyes opened slowly and met his.

Derek smiled down at him. “Morning.”

Stiles smiled back, then rubbed his face with his hands. After a brief stretch and a wide yawn, he griped Derek’s hand and Derek pulled him to his feet. Stiles gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Good morning. What time is it?” he asked.

“It’s a little after seven,” Derek answered.

Jackson had succeeded in waking up Allison and Scott. Allison placed her hand gently on Scott’s injured arm.

“How is it?” she asked, her brow furrowing in concern.

Scott pulled his arm out of the sling, made a fist, then fanned out his fingers and wiggled them. “It feels good,” he said, smiling and nodding. “I think it’s okay.”

He opened and closed his fist a few more times then stood up, asking, “So, what’s the plan for today?”

“Well, we need to figure out what to do with these three,” Derek answered, pointing at their three hostages. 

“Did they give you any trouble?” asked Stiles.

Derek shook his head and pointed at Violet and Gerard. “Those two just slept.” Then, he pointed at Aiden. “That one is as chatty as Braeden.” He paused, then continued, “Well, before that toothy alien thing came out of her mouth, anyway.” Turning to face his friends, he thought cast, “I think we should try to deal with him first. He should be the easiest. From what I’ve seen, he’s like a grunt or a soldier or something. I think Braeden was the same. One of the other two is in charge, but I can’t figure out which one. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s the professor, because Violet seems to defer to him. But, since Allison can feel Violet’s emotions, that makes her different from the others, so it might be her.”

“Maybe they’re different because their functions are different,” Lydia mused. “A low level soldier might not have any need for emotion, so perhaps their soldier class has none. It’s possible they don’t even have thoughts of their own and all they can do is follow orders. Gerard and Violet might be capable of different things. The fact that Violet has emotions and the professor doesn’t may simply be a by-product of that.”

They were all quiet for a moment. “Was that a premonition thing?” Stiles asked Derek, referring back to his earlier statement about which of the aliens might be in charge.

“No,” Derek answered quickly, shaking his head. “It wasn’t that, just some observations I made. I was thinking about it all night. I mean, why only four of them? It’s almost like they’re some kind of special unit. If they were worried about us, why didn’t they have more of them watching the house?”

“More of them?” asked Scott.

“Yeah,” said Allison. “We found out last night they aren’t the only ones.”

“How many are there?” asked Lydia.

“We don’t know,” Melissa replied. “Derek had a premonition and he told them that we knew there were more of them. They didn’t contradict him.”

“Do the others know about us?” asked Lydia. “Do they know where we are?”

“No,” answered Allison. “At least, we don’t think they do.”

“That’s our first order of business, then,” John said. “We need to find out how many of them we’re up against and we need to find out what they know about us.”

“How exactly are we supposed to do that?” asked Scott.

“Can we force them to tell us?” asked Isaac.

“Good luck,” said Erica. “Even if you were to forget for a moment that those are actual human beings they’re inside of and decided to do something crazy like torture them, it won’t work because you won’t actually be hurting them. You’ll just be hurting the host.”

“She’s right,” Melissa said. “How do you intend to make them talk?”

“Can’t we trick them, or something? Like we did with Braeden?” asked Allison.

“It won’t work,” said Melissa. “Violet and Gerard are not like Aiden and Braeden. You all remember what happened when we went inside of Braden’s mind. Except for Stiles, that little episode knocked us flat for the better part of a day, and she was easy. It’s like Derek said, she was a grunt and we had at least some idea of how to go about gaining the information we needed. I seriously doubt Aiden knows anything important, and if we try something with the other two, we’ll just be putting ourselves at risk.”

“I have to agree with Melissa,” said John. “We don’t know how they move from body to body, and we have no reason to believe that their species is anything like us. But, we have to figure out a way to get more information.” He paused. “What if we limit our exposure? We can use Erica’s ability instead of Lydia’s. We won’t be able to learn as much, but we should have more control that way.”

They all turned to Allison. She looked into each of their faces. Even without her ability to tell her so, she knew they would never ask her if there was any other choice. She took a deep breath and nodded.

“Thank you,” said John. ”But, just so we’re clear, you’ll be alone. Stiles and Isaac will still be able to boost your abilities, but Jackson and Lydia will need to sever our link, just in case something goes wrong.”

Allison bit her bottom lip, but nodded again. Scott pulled her close and held her tight.

“At the first sign of trouble, you get out of there, okay?” he said.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Allison replied, rubbing her palms against her pants nervously. She took a deep breath and tried to give them all a brave smile.

Derek looked over at Gerard, who had been watching them warily. If he had any kind of intelligence at all, he had to know they were communicating with each other in some way. Violet was still asleep.

“It would be interesting to see what Violet’s mind is like when she’s sleeping, but I don’t think that information would help us a whole lot right now,” Derek said, turning back to Allison. “Without waking her up, I don’t know how much more we can find out about her using your abilities alone. The professor, on the other hand, is already awake. So far, you haven’t been able to sense any emotions from him, but it seems like he’s more similar to Violet than he is to Braeden or Aiden. It’s weird, right?”

“Yes, it is,” said Erica. “I think we should try the professor, too.”

“Okay, that’s two votes for Gerard,” Allison said. “Anybody think we should try Violet?”

No one said anything. “The professor it is, then,” she said, leading the way into the room where Derek had put the professor for the night. Violet’s emotions, as strange as they were, were at least something she could understand. She wasn’t going to mention it, but if she had been the only one voting, they’d be trying this out on Violet.

Gerard narrowed his gaze when he saw them approaching. Allison turned back to the others. “What should I do?” she thought cast to them. “Just stand in front of him and try to get inside his head?”

“Let’s make this interesting,” Derek suggested, smiling a little. “As far as we know, they have no idea what our abilities actually are. Hopefully he won’t be able to figure out what you’re doing. I think the rest of us should leave the room when Allison and Erica are doing their thing. It’ll confuse him and hopefully scare him a little. He’ll wonder why we left and what you’re going to do. It might help scare up some kind of emotions for you to feel.”

Stiles arched his eyebrow. “Devious much?”

Derek smiled at him and shrugged. “Are you ready?” he asked Allison.

“Sure,” she said as she turned to face the professor. “Let’s get this over with.”

“We’ll be right outside the door,” Scott said, squeezing her shoulders. 

Allison nodded and the others filed out of the room.

“I am breaking our connection now,” Jackson thought cast to her in warning. “So, just yell if you need something.”

Allison took a deep breath and the professor’s eyes grew wide. She assumed it was fear, but she could still feel none of his emotions, if he did indeed have any. Her heart was racing. She just hoped that if Violet woke up, she wouldn’t be able to communicate with the professor from the other room. 

“It’s just you and me, kid,” she said to Erica.

“I hope he doesn’t have one of those teeth things inside of him,” Erica replied. “If we run into one of those, we stop and think of some other way.”

“I am totally with you on that one,” Allison said.

“And, don’t close your eyes,” Erica added. “I want to be able to see him and we don’t want him to think you’re meditating.” 

“Okay, okay! Let’s just do this, all right?” Allison said nervously.

She felt something slightly prickly behind her ears. Everything around her seemed to come into sharper focus and she caught a faint whiff of ozone. The feeling was familiar. Stiles and Isaac were pouring their energy into her and she wasn’t going to waste it. Following Erica’s instructions, she locked eyes with the professor as she tried to push her senses into where she thought his mind should be, but she came up against a wall. Except, it wasn’t really a wall so much as it was a fogbank. There was nothing that she could readily identify as an emotion, but the swirling murkiness confused and distracted her, like emotions on the verge of forming, or the dying breath of thoughts never given voice. Using her mind like a drill, she tried to pierce through the fog, but whatever was impeding her progress seemed to unravel her focus and swirl it away like smoke caught in the eddies of a Spanish lady’s fan. She regrouped and tried again; the result was the same. 

Erica was taking a different route, heightening her sensitivity to capture any faint traces of emotion that might escape from the professor’s seemingly barren persona. Every time Allison attempted to stab through the fog, Erica was ready with her mind cast out like a net to catch whatever might escape: the barest hint of fear, a trace of frustration, maybe even boredom or a shred of amusement, but there was simply nothing. She decided to join her efforts with Allison to see if their combined strength could get through somehow. 

Together, their minds were like a battering ram, and the strange fog was unable to unravel the force of their attack. After a few tries, they made it through, and found themselves in a dark and hollow shell. They immediately cast out their senses to see if they could find some trace of emotion, all the while on the alert for anything that might try to eat them.

“It’s pretty quiet in here,” Erica commented.

“Yeah,” agreed Allison. “I wish we had the others. Are you picking up anything?”

“No,” Erica answered. “What if there’s nothing here? What if he’s not human at all?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” said Allison. “For now, we keep looking.”

They were quiet for a while as they drifted deeper and deeper into the professor’s psyche. Allison would have panicked long before that moment had she been alone, but Erica’s presence kept her steady. 

“Do you feel that?” Erica asked suddenly.

“Yes,” Allison said when she noticed the tiny spark of life. “It doesn’t feel like anything that ever I’ve felt before.”

“It’s like a seed consciousness,” Erica mused. “Like a baby before it’s had its first real emotions. And, it’s asleep.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Allison suggested. “I don’t like this and I think we’ve already been in here too long. I doubt we’re gonna find out anything else without the others.”

They pulled themselves out of the professor’s mind, which was much easier to do than it had been to get in. He was still looking up at Allison, oblivious to what they had done. Allison blinked.

“What did you do?” Gerard asked, sounding slightly alarmed. “What are you doing? Get away from me, girl!” he snarled.

Allison smirked and crossed her arms, but said nothing. She turned around and slowly walked to the door, opening it for her friends waiting anxiously on the other.

“You can come back,” she thought cast as Lydia and Jackson reestablished her link to them. “I’m done.”

The others filed back into the room, each of them giving the professor a meaningful look.

“What did she do?” he asked angrily. “What did you do to me!? Answer me right now!”

“Well?” Jackson thought cast. “What did you two see?”

“Not much really,” Allison answered. “There’s a weird fog around his mind that was difficult to get through. We did get through it eventually, not that there was much for the fog to block.”

“He’s like a baby inside,” Erica added. “A sleeping baby.”

“What do you mean?” Lydia asked.

“It’s like he’s unformed. Emotionally, I mean,” Erica answered. “Deep down inside, behind all of the fog, he’s the emotional equivalent of a fetus.”

“A fetus?” asked Scott.

“Yeah, it’s like he never grew up,” Erica replied.

“Or he regressed,” said Melissa.

“What?” asked Lydia.

“He regressed,” Melissa repeated, as the premonition washed over her. “He’s been under the influence of that thing for so long that his personality just started to wither away. It’s what would have happened to Braeden if we hadn’t saved her, and it’s happening to Aiden right now.”

“What about Violet?” asked Stiles.

“It’s to late for her,” Derek answered, looking over at Violet with sadness in his eyes. “Whatever humanity was left in her disappeared a long time ago.”

“Wait,” said Stiles, looking at Derek. “Are you saying she’s not human?”

Derek frowned and crossed his arms. “Not anymore, not in any way that actually matters.”

“Hey!” Gerard yelled. “What are you doing over there? Why are you just standing around staring at each other?”

Allison glanced over her shoulder to look at the professor. He had a somewhat smug look on his face, like he had figured out something. She turned back towards the others. “Maybe that’s why she feels so strange,” she offered. “You know how her emotions are all weird? Maybe that’s what their actual emotions feel like. Maybe their true selves are suppressed by their human hosts, and its not until the human part of them is gone that we can sense anything about the alien part.”

“It’s as good a theory as any,” said Lydia. “Unless Derek or Melissa have another premonition, there’s no way for us to know for sure.”

They heard moaning coming from the kitchen table. They looked over to find Aiden’s head lolling from side to side as his body jerked against his bonds. Violet was wide-awake, she was watching the scene calmly. Her eyes were smiling. 

Allison ripped the tape off of Violet’s mouth, and Violet gasped at the sting. 

“What’s going on?” Allison asked angrily. “What did you do to him?”

Violet’s eyes hardened and she set her mouth in a firm line. “You’ll pay for that,” she threatened in a low voice.

“What’s happening to him?” asked Scott.

Violet looked up at him with a cocky smile. “You’re gonna find out real soon.”

Aiden threw his head back as his moaning grew louder, his chair hopping from his convulsions. Before any of them could react, his moans turned into a full-fledged scream and his chair tipped over backwards. Suddenly, the screaming stopped and it sounded like he was choking on something. A hazy black ball shot out of his mouth with a loud whoosh and crashed through the wall in an explosion of plaster and wood. Scott grabbed Allison and pulled her to the ground, protecting her with his body while the other three dove for cover.

When he thought it was safe, Scott rolled off of Allison and helped her to her feet.

“What happened?” she asked, squinting through the plaster dust as she tried to wave it away from her face.

Jackson ran to Aiden, where he lay unmoving and silent, still duct taped to his chair. He checked for a pulse. His eyes widened and his breath caught.

“I think he is dead,” he whispered, looking up at the others with fear and uncertainty.

“No!” yelled Allison as she joined him at Aiden’s side. She lowered her cheek to his face to see if she could feel his breath. When she felt nothing, she reached out with her mind, but like every other time, there was nothing for her to feel. 

“Was that what I think it was?” asked Stiles.

“I’m pretty sure it was,” Derek answered, almost too low for them to hear.

Stiles ran from the room so fast that none of them could follow his movements, but they heard the rattling of the chain he had picked up from the floor on his way out. Derek placed his hand on Allison’s shoulder as she was about to start CPR. He heard her sharp intake of breath, startled by his touch, and she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

“He’s gone,” he whispered. 

Violet started laughing as the tears were streaming down Allison’s face. Allison turned to her and screamed, “What are you laughing at!?” She stood up with her fists balled at her sides. “What is wrong with you!?” she shrieked as she took a step towards the girl bound to the chair. “This is not funny, you sick bitch! Stop laughing!”

Violet sighed and smiled at her. “You Leesians are so pathetic,” she said in disgust. “Look at you! You didn’t even know him and you’re bawling your eyes out! How do you think you’re going to win against us?”

“Shut up!” Allison screamed. “Just, shut up!”

Scott wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Don’t let her get to you,” he said, trying to calm her down. “She’s not worth it.”

She turned, buried her face in his chest and cried. Stiles rushed back into the room.

“I don’t know where it went,” he thought cast to them. “I can’t find it anywhere. We need to get out of here.”

“We have some time,” Melissa replied. “It took a lot of energy for the creature to leave Aiden’s body that quickly. It’ll be a while before it regains its strength. But, we do need to find a new place to hide as soon as possible. As soon as it’s able to, it’s going to leave, and when it comes back, it’s bringing more of its friends with it.”


	17. Trading Spaces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With their location compromised, the gang needs to find a new place to hide.

“How long do we have?” asked John.

“About a day, I think,” Melissa replied.

“Okay, at least that gives us a little time to find a new place,” Stiles said anxiously. “But, in the meantime, I think we should move to the highest floor.”

He zipped from the room and up two flights of stairs to the fourth floor. A lot of the doors were already open because he had broken into those apartments looking for things they could use. He closed them as he went, hoping it would make him and his friends that much more difficult to find. If everything started happening faster than Melissa predicted, he wanted to be prepared. The last apartment at the end of the hall was one of the few he had not yet gone into. All of the doors that he had forced open showed signs of damage and he wanted to avoid providing telltale signs of where they might be hiding.

“Hey, Jackson,” he thought cast. “Do you think you would be able to pick a lock?”

Jackson thought about it for a moment, surprised when he realized all the information he needed to do it was sitting conveniently in his brain. “Yeah,” he answered. “It shouldn’t be a problem. Why?”

“I found an apartment for us, but I don’t want to break the door open. If you pick the lock, it’ll look like the apartment hasn’t been disturbed. Can you come up here and give me a hand?”

“Sure,” Jackson answered. “Just give me a minute to figure out what I need to do this.”

Jackson walked out of the apartment to look at the doorknob and the keyhole. It was a typical five-pin lock used for most homes. He could pick it if he had the right tools. He sensed Stiles approaching and looked up to see him walking down the hall.

“What are you doing back down here?” Jackson asked, holding the door open.

“It looked like you would be a while,” Stiles answered, “so I decided to come back to see if you needed help.”

“Yeah, I need to figure out what I can use to pick the lock,” Jackson replied, looking around the room. “It needs to be thin enough to fit in the keyhole and pliable enough to shape, but it still needs to be strong enough to push down the pins.” He looked up at the kitchen. “I need one of the forks.”

He walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a fork from a drawer. They all watched as he went to a corner of the room and dug it into the carpet. Once he had worked out a big enough piece to hold on to, he tossed the fork to the side and grabbed the carpet, pulling it up and away from the floor, sending a cloud of dust into the air. Jackson turned his head to the side and coughed, but continued to work, reaching down to rip off the padding underneath, revealing a few carpet staples still holding onto chunks of the foam. He found the fork and shoved the two center tines beneath one of the staples. Working the handle of the fork up and down, he managed to pry one of the staples out of the floorboard.

Holding the staple in the palm of his hand, he rejoined the others with a triumphant smile on his face. 

Allison smiled at him, not sure of what he was planning. “Very impressive,” she said, nodding. “Now what are you going to do with it?”

“I need you to straighten this,” he said to Stiles as he dropped the staple onto Stiles’ open palm. 

Stiles worked the staple until it was an almost perfectly straight piece of metal almost two inches long. Anyone looking at it would have had a difficult time guessing it had previously been a staple. He held it up for the others to see.

“Okay,” said Jackson, pointing at the tip. “I need you to bend the tip of it to a ninety degree angle, just the last quarter inch or less if you can. But, not from the flat side, you have to bend it up at the narrow side so I can get it into the keyhole.”

Stiles grimaced as he gripped the end of the staple with the tips of his fingers. He knew what Jackson was asking him to do because Jackson was thought casting an image of it into his mind, but it would be difficult to bend the metal the way Jackson was asking without crumpling the inside bend. Also, gripping only the last quarter inch of the thin piece metal didn’t give him very much leverage. He worked slowly, applying as much pressure as he could with the tips of his fingers while trying to stretch the metal at the same time. Even with his enhanced strength, the staple was putting up a decent fight.

After about five minutes, and much grunting and grimacing, he had shaped the staple to Jackson’s specifications and handed it back to him. Jackson brought the newly worked lock-pick up closer to his face to inspect it, then nodded at Stiles.

“This should work.” He looked around the room again. “The only problem is that it’s a little too short. I won’t be able to lift the pins if I can’t get a good grip on this. We need some kind of handle. Oh yeah,” he said, turning back to Stiles, handing him the fork. “I need you to fix this too.”

“What do you want me to do to it?” he asked.

Jackson smirked. “This one’s easy. I just need you to bend back three of the tines so that there’s only one left sticking up. Then I need you to bend a quarter inch at the top of the one sticking up to a ninety-degree angle, but you can bend it from the flat side.”

Stiles nodded and got to work while Jackson looked around the room for something to use as a handle for the first tool. Compared to the staple, the fork tool was relatively simple and Stiles finished it in less than a minute, placing it on the counter.

“I’m gonna bring these two upstairs,” he said, nodding his head at Violet and Gerard. “Wanna give me a hand?” he asked Derek.

Derek nodded. “Sure”

Stiles frowned at Aiden’s corpse. “I guess we just have to leave him for now,” he said, looking up at the others.

Allison shook her head sadly. “It’s not right. We can’t just leave him here like this.”

Scott looked at down at Aiden, then up at Allison. “He’s at peace now. Stiles can bring him back to the school tonight where someone can find him.” Scott frowned, then smiled bravely for her and continued, “Assuming we’re still around.”

“That’s not very reassuring,” John commented, saying it so that only Scott could hear.

Scott shrugged. Stiles grabbed the back of the professor’s chair and lifted it with ease.

“Put me down!” Gerard demanded. 

He was about to open his mouth to continue his protests, but Derek slapped a piece of duct tape over it. He glared at Derek, but Derek just smiled at him. He approached Violet with another piece of duct tape and she looked at him as if she was trying to set his head on fire with her eyes. He sighed and placed the tape over her mouth.

“It’s too late for this one,” he thought cast to the others. “Whoever Violet was, she’s dead now and this disgusting creature has taken her place. I don’t know what we’re gonna do with her. We might be able to save the professor, but I don’t think we have a lot of time.

“We can deal with that later if we survive the next couple of days,” Stiles said, trying not to sound cold. “If we die, it’ll be too late for all of us. Let’s get these two upstairs first; we can start planning after that.”

Derek positioned himself behind Violet’s chair and lifted her up.

“See you all in a bit,” Stiles said, leaving the room while carrying the professor. Derek followed him, leaving Scott, Allison, and Jackson to figure out the lock-pick tool.

Allison dug a pencil out of her backpack. “Will this work?” she asked, holding it up for Jackson to see. “Maybe you can stick the straight end of the staple in the eraser?”

Jackson shook his head, saying, “It’s not strong enough. Keep looking.” And, they continued to scour the apartment, looking for an appropriate handle.

Derek and Stiles made their way up to the fourth floor carrying Violet and Gerard. After arriving at their destination, they deposited their charges in the hallway next to the apartment they were going to hide in. 

“You okay with babysitting duty?” Stiles asked, with his hands on his hips.

Derek nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“All right,” Stiles said, patting him on the back. “I’ll be right back with the others,” he said, calling back to Derek as he zipped back down the stairs.

Back at the apartment, he found the other three spread out in different rooms, still looking for something to use for the lock-pick handle. Allison was in the kitchen; all of the drawers had been pulled out and every cabinet door was open. Jackson was standing in the middle of the living room holding his chin with his hand and there was a loud ruckus coming from the bathroom where he assumed Scott was. He walked up to Jackson and put his hand on Jackson’s shoulder.

“Why don’t you show me what you need?” Stiles asked.

Jackson closed his eyes and pictured himself trying to pick the lock. He thought cast to Stiles what the inside mechanics of the lock would look like and how he would need to lever the staple inside of the keyhole to manipulate the pins.

“I see,” said Stiles. 

The images had been broadcast to the others as well. Scott and Allison walked back into the living room. 

“There’s nothing in the bedrooms or in the bathroom,” said Scott apologetically. “Whoever was here last took everything with them.”

“Yeah,” added Allison. “Except for the spoon we found when we first got here and the two forks Stiles found in the other apartments, there’s nothing we can use in the kitchen.”

Scott spotted the chain on the floor and picked it up to examine the links more closely. They were essentially little metal rods that had been shaped into a loop and welded together. 

Holding the last link of the chain up to Stiles, he asked, “Do you think you can break this link off the chain?”

Stiles frowned and grabbed the link with his hands. Grunting loudly, he twisted the link with his fingers until the weld snapped with a pop. He grimaced and pulled the link apart to widen the gap between the two ends and threaded it through the adjacent link to free it from the chain.

“Okay!” said Scott, excited now that his plan seemed to be working. “Now, make it straight like you did with the staple.”

“This is going to be a lot harder than the staple,” Stiles replied, his eyebrow arched incredulously.

“You can do it,” Scott encouraged, slipping in a suggestion behind his words.

“Hey!” Stiles exclaimed at his sudden boost in confidence. “I know what you’re doing!” 

Scott laughed a little and shrugged, but Stiles set to work on the ruined scrap of metal. It took some doing, but he was finally able to get it decently straight. They now had a steel rod about four inches long and about a third of an inch wide.

“Okay!” Scott said, excitedly. “Now, all you have to do is stick the staple into that, and it is finished!”

“What!?” exclaimed Stiles. “Look,” he said, pointing at Scott with the little metal rod, “I’m not Superman, okay!”

Allison and Jackson were also giving Scott looks of disbelief.

“Stiles,” he said, walking behind him and putting one hand on his shoulder. He leaned in and spoke softly next to Stiles’ ear. “You can do this.”

Stiles didn’t fight the suggestion this time, instead letting its power wash over him.

“You’re strong,” John said, adding another layer of suggestion. “But, more importantly, you’re fast. What you need to do will take a fraction of a fraction of a second,” he whispered. “Think of all those times when you were moving so fast, time seemed to stop. You need to be that fast now, faster than that, but just for a moment. A moment of a moment.”

“Look,” said Scott. “Even Jackson and Lydia will help you.”

Jackson looked up at Scott in surprise. 

“Let them be your eyes,” Scott continued as Jackson placed his hand on Stiles’ other shoulder, a confused look still on his face. 

“You know the physics for how this needs to happen,” John said to Lydia.

“You know what the tool needs to do,” Scott said to Jackson. 

John and Scott’s voices blended together into an almost eerie harmony. “Hold the image in your mind. You will be the guide for Stiles’ hands.”

“Stiles,” they continued together, “don’t worry about how you’re going to do this. Just be the fastest that you have ever been. You are faster than you think you are. This will be easy. You are not alone. We are six, acting as one, six of us together, doing this one, simple thing.”

Then, it was just Scott’s voice alone, breathy and desperate, “Go.”

Isaac shunted all of his strength to Stiles and Stiles felt the world around him come to a stop. Even his own hands as he moved to jab the end of the staple into the metal rod seemed to be moving in slow motion. Scott, Lydia, Jackson, and John, all intimately linked to his mind and the creation of the lock-pick, were able to follow his movements despite his speed and watch as the straight end of the staple made contact with the rod. The staple slipped into the metal, as if Stiles were pushing it into a soft stick of butter. Jackson, who was to a large degree controlling Stiles’ movements, stopped the staple from going in too far, leaving almost an inch and a half of the staple exposed.

Time abruptly resumed its normal pace. Jackson grabbed on to Stiles with both of his hands to keep from falling over, but Scott collapsed to the floor. Allison gasped and dropped to the ground to make sure he was okay.

“He’s fine, just passed out again,” she announced after quickly looking him over. “What happened? Did it work?” She had seen nothing from where she was standing, Stiles’ movements too fast for her to follow.

Stiles held it up. “Yeah, I think so.” He handed it to Jackson.

“Yeah, yeah, this’ll work,” Jackson said as he pulled at the staple that was now firmly attached to its handle. He looked up at the others. “Let’s go.”

Stiles bent down and slung Scott over his shoulders. Jackson and Allison grabbed their bags and followed Stiles out of the room. Allison spared a glance back for Aiden, then sighed and closed the door behind her. 

Derek looked up at them in surprise as they approached.

“What happened to him?” he asked, nodding at Scott. 

“You know, the usual. Use our powers, get knocked out,” Stiles replied.

Jackson knelt down in front of the doorknob to start working on the lock. 

“Is this normal?” Derek asked Melissa inside his own head. “Why does this keep happening to us? Was using your powers this draining when you all were at home?”

“We never had to use our powers like this at home,” Melissa said. “My premonitions would come when they came. I never really tried to control them, and I still can’t really, which you know. Having a premonition is not particularly trying. Erica never had to concentrate so much to use her abilities; there was never any reason for her to. Acting as a conduit for everyone to communicate doesn’t take very much, if any, of Lydia’s attention, as far as I know, but the suggestions aren’t something that John did very often before. I would imagine they’re not easy to create or sustain. 

“As for Isaac, he’s the most resilient out of all us of all, but even he has limits. Still, it takes a lot more to tire him out and he recovers a lot faster. You have to remember, these situations are new for us too.”

“Are you talking to Melissa?” Stiles thought cast.

Derek nodded and jutted his chin at Scott. “She was just telling me that this is probably normal.”

Stiles sighed and looked at Jackson. “How’s it going over there?” he asked.

“There’s only two more pins left,” he answered. 

His eyes were closed as he tried to concentrate on what he was feeling inside of the lock. The tip of the fork was inside of the keyhole and he kept pressure on it so that the knob would turn once all of the pins were in place. There was a tiny click that would have been inaudible to normal human ears telling him that another pin had caught.

He breathed out slowly as he manipulated the last pin. Lifting the pin gently up the hole, the fork suddenly gave way and he grabbed the doorknob to open the door.

“Nice!” proclaimed Derek, nodding in approval. 

He picked up Violet and carried her into the dark apartment. Stiles and Allison followed him with Scott and their bags. Jackson pocketed the tools, grabbed the professor’s chair and carried him into the apartment. He set Gerard down next to Violet in the living room and closed the door. Allison threw back the curtains and light flooded into the room.

“There were a couple of mattresses on the third floor,” Stiles said from the door. “They’re not much, but we can use them to barricade ourselves in here for now.” 

He left and Derek turned to Jackson. “We should bring the table and chairs up here,” Derek said, then turned to Allison. “We’ll be right back, okay?”

She nodded and watched as they left, closing the door behind them. Stiles was back in a few minutes with a musty queen sized mattress. Allison arched her eyebrow at the lumpy, stained mess.

“No wonder you didn’t bring it back for us to sleep on,” she commented as he propped it up against the wall.

“Yeah,” he replied, dusting his hands off. “Real beauty ain’t it?” He gave her a big goofy smile.

She smiled back and he left the room again. The layout of the apartment was exactly the same as the last one. The kitchen opened up to the dining room, which opened up to the living room. There were two bedrooms and a bathroom off of the short hallway. She went through the apartment and drew back all of the curtains to let in the light, then went into the still dark bathroom. Even in the half-light, she could clearly see her reflection. If she had been planning on being seen in public, she would have been horrified by her tired face and crazy hair.

Derek was maneuvering the table through the door when she got back to the living room. She ran over and held one end steady to make it easier for him to get it in.

“Thanks,” he said, putting the table down in the middle of the room. “Pretty crazy, huh?”

“What is?” she asked.

“All of this,” he said, laughing a little as he gestured around the room. He looked down at her with a sobered expression. “A week ago, the biggest thing going on in my life was trying to figure out how to tell Stiles how felt about him.”

Allison laughed. “You think that’s bad? That was the biggest thing going on in my life, too!”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “You wanted to tell Stiles that you liked him?”

She tried to shove him with both hands. “You know what I mean!”

He laughed, grabbing her hands and pulling her close, giving her a bear hug. “We’ll get through this,” he said to the top of her head. “I don’t know how, but we will.”

“What are you doing?” asked Scott from the ground, squinting up at them as Jackson stumbled through the door with the three chairs. The faded blue one had been previously occupied by the dead boy they had left behind in the other apartment. Scott recognized the stricken look on her face when she saw the chair then gave a stern look to Derek. 

“What’s going on here, Derek?” he asked, still laying the ground. “You trying to steal my woman?”

Allison was shocked for a moment, but felt the good-natured humor behind the statement. She yelped as Derek scooped her into his arms and smiled at Scott.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself, but I swept her off her feet.” He gave her a wet, sloppy kiss on the forehead.

Allison laughed and squirmed, trying to push him away. Derek let Allison get down and she ran to Scott’s side. Holding on to his hand, she gently helped him to his feet. He held on to her with both hands to keep from falling back down.

“You passed out again after the lock-pick thing,” she said to him. “But, it worked!” she said, gesturing at the room around them. “We’re in the new apartment.”

Scott grimaced and looked around. “It looks the same as the last one.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, smiling at him. “I think all of the apartments have the same floor plan.”

“I need to sit down,” Scott said, taking a wobbly step towards the pile of chairs that Jackson had set down.

Allison helped him walk as Jackson set one of the chairs upright for him. Stiles appeared in the doorway with a dirty twin bed and pulled it into the room.

“Each of these had a box spring with it,” he commented, looking up at his friends. “But, I figured they don’t really weigh enough to matter. I don’t even know how much of a difference these mattresses will make against what could be coming after us,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “I’m gonna make a food run. Lock the door after I leave, and put these mattresses in front of it.”

Derek grabbed Stiles’ hand before he could take off and looked into his eyes. “Don’t do anything stupid out there,” he said. “Don’t be a hero.”

“I love you, too,” Stiles replied. He gave Derek a quick smile, kissed him and turned to the others. “I should be back in a half hour.”

“Be careful,” Derek said, squeezing his hand.

“I will,” Stiles replied. He let go of Derek’s hand and disappeared down the hall.


	18. Death Panel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The vote for killing Violet is 9 to 1. Allison is the lone holdout, not quite ready to condemn her to death, no matter what she might be.

Derek grabbed the larger bed and set it on the ground in front of the door. Scott put the twin bed on top of it and sat down. Anyone trying to get into the room would have to be strong enough to push it open with the two mattresses behind it, no easy feat, even if they were stronger than the average person.

“So, what now?” asked Erica.

“Now, we wait,” John answered.

Derek set the other two chairs upright as Allison dug through her backpack for her brush. A strange sense of doom settled over the apartment. Allison brought the brush to the bathroom and stared at her reflection as she pulled the bristles through the tangles in her hair. 

“Earlier, when Aiden died,” Allison said haltingly, talking to Erica. “Violet said, ‘You _Leesians_ are so pathetic.’ She was talking about you, right?”

“Yes, she was talking about us,” Erica answered. “That’s what we are, where we’re from: Leesi. That was the name of our planet.”

As Erica spoke, Allison could feel the waves of emotion that washed over Erica as she remembered her home. She could tell how much Erica missed it.

Scott appeared behind her and watched for a few minutes before taking the brush gently from her hands. Her breathing slowed as he gently worked on a particularly difficult knot of hair. She closed her eyes and sighed, enjoying the rare opportunity to have a quiet moment with him.

“Are we going to survive this?” she asked, looking at him in the mirror.

He continued brushing for two more careful strokes, then let his arms hang limply at his sides. He met her gaze in the mirror and bit his bottom lip.

“I don’t know,” he said with a slight shake of his head. Then, he smiled bravely for her, “But, we’re definitely gonna try.”

She laughed softly under her breath and grabbed the brush from him, pulled it through her hair a few more times and decided it was as good as it was going to get without a shower. She turned to face him, gave him a quick kiss, looking deeply into his eyes. Slowly pulling his head down to her own, she kissed him again. 

“I love you,” she said, with her hands on his cheeks. 

He smiled back at her and clasped one her hands between both of his, kissing the top of it. They walked into the living room hand-in-hand, Allison’s cheek pressed against his shoulder. Jackson was standing next to Derek by the window.

“Stiles is back,” Allison announced.

There was a knock at the door a few seconds later. Derek and Scott moved the mattresses out of the way to let him in. They opened the door to find Stiles carrying four large pizza boxes.

“Oh, thank God!” exclaimed Derek. “I’m starving!”

Allison smirked. “You’re always starving!”

“I got three pepperoni and one with everything,” Stiles said as he entered the apartment. 

He put the pizza boxes down on the table along with a few fistfuls of brown paper napkins. Derek opened one of the boxes and started passing out slices of pizza to everyone. After snagging two of the slices from beneath Derek’s long arms, Stiles flipped one on top of the other and wolfed them down like a sandwich. 

“All right,” he thought cast to them, grabbing two more slices. “I’m out. We still need to find a new place. Give me a shout if you need me.”

Before any of them could respond, Derek felt Stiles’ lips, impossibly fast, on his cheek and Stiles was gone, leaving two paper napkins fluttering in his wake. The napkins settled to the floor as Derek blinked a few times, frozen in the act of lifting up a slice of pizza. Sighing, he put it down and went to the door to put the mattresses back in front of it.

By the time he got back to the table, his slice of pizza had been adorned with three wilted strips of green bell pepper. As was their habit, Allison had picked the peppers off of her pizza and put them on Derek’s. Allison liked having a lot of different toppings, but hated bell peppers, while Derek would eat almost anything, and they had come to this mutually beneficial arrangement months ago.

“What about those two?” Scott thought cast, pointing at Gerard and Violet with his slice.

Derek’s eyes grew cold. “You can feed the professor if you want, but not the girl.”

Allison looked up at him, her eyes wide. She couldn’t get a read on his emotions. “What do you mean? Why?”

Derek turned to her, but would not meet her gaze. “She’s not human. We’re not wasting food on her.”

“We’re not animals,” Allison said, anger lending a slight edge to her thought cast voice. 

Derek lifted his eyes and she took an involuntary step back.

“She’s trying to kill us,” Derek said evenly. “And, that thing!” he continued angrily, jabbing a finger at Violet, “is not human! The girl that was in there is dead and there is nothing we can do for her. You heard what Melissa and the others said; you’ve seen what they all went through. These things have destroyed entire planets! And, we don’t even know why! So no, we are not going to feed her.” 

His eyes softened when he noticed he was scaring her. “Allison, she laughed when Aiden died. She laughed! She’s a monster. I guarantee you, right now, she’s trying to figure out how to kill us.” His eyes went wide. “Look at Scott! She even broke Scott’s arm!”

Allison felt the wave of anger crest and begin to fall, but behind it was fear. Derek was afraid like he had never been afraid in his life. He was more afraid now than when Gerard had pulled a gun on him and Scott. Violet’s eyes went back and forth between her captors, watching their rapidly changing expressions and angry but silent gestures.

Allison touched Derek’s elbow. “We’re all scared, but listen to what you’re saying. This isn’t you. What do you want us to do, starve her to death? Doesn’t that make us like them?”

“I’m sorry Allison,” Scott said behind her. “But, I think Derek might be right.” 

Allison whipped her head around to face her boyfriend, her eyes full of questions.

“Look,” Scott continued, “it’s not that she broke my arm. It’s totally healed now; it doesn’t even hurt anymore. I don’t care about that. But, what good is feeding her going to do? Derek’s right. First chance she gets, we’re toast and every human being, every living thing, is next. All that’s gonna be left are things like her, things that look like people but aren’t. I know you don’t want to hear this, but we can’t ever let her go.” He paused, not sure how to say what he needed to say. 

Jackson picked up the unasked question. “So, if we can’t let her go, what are we gonna do with her?”

Scott’s eyes met Derek’s and Allison felt the determined finality of their decision pass between them. She threw her hands up in the air, her eyes bright with tears.

“I won’t have anything to do with this,” she said shaking her head, blinking away her blurred vision. “I can’t! I won’t!”

The three boys watched her walk down the hall and shut herself inside one of the bedrooms. Scott was about to follow her, but Derek grabbed his arm.

“She needs to be alone right now,” Derek explained. “Give her a chance to pull herself together; let her think. She might not like what we’re saying, but she knows we’re right.”

Scott sank into one of the chairs and stared at the slice of pepperoni pizza in his hands. Derek tried to remove the tape from Gerard’s mouth as gently as he could, but he could tell from the professor’s flinching that the tape was puling at his skin. He held a slice of pizza up for the professor to eat, but the professor turned his nose up at it. 

Derek scowled in frustration. “Look, I know you hate us, but you need to eat something. You have to be starving by now.”

Gerard turned unfeeling eyes on him and replied, “You don’t know the first thing about me, boy.”

Derek inched the pizza closer to the professor’s mouth. “This is your last chance. Scott and Jackson are not going to feed you, and I don’t know when Allison’s coming back.”

When the professor made no move to eat, Derek put the tape back over his mouth. 

“Suit yourself,” he said, sitting down next to Scott. Jackson stood at the window while he ate, keeping an eye on what was going on outside. 

Inside of the dark bedroom, Allison was sitting on the floor by herself with her back against the wall. She held her head in her hands and tried to calm herself down as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Why have you five been so quiet?” she asked Erica angrily. “I guess you think we should just kill her, too?”

“Don’t be like that, Allison,” Erica gently chastised. “I’ve never killed anyone, and neither has Isaac or Lydia. I seriously doubt that Melissa has ever killed anyone either. John’s been alive for a long time and he’s a soldier, so I don’t know about him, but we come from a peaceful people. Killing isn’t really something that we tend to think about. It’s been generations since our people have known war, and we live for a long time.”

The wet streaks on her faced cooled as she took a few deep breaths of the stagnant air. She wiped her face with her hands and stood up. Using two of her fingers, she opened up a slit between the heavy curtains to peek at the bright world outside. The lunch rush was over now and traffic was light.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything.”

The blade of light disappeared as she pulled her hand back, plunging the room into darkness again. Still, she had no problem seeing every detail of her surroundings, not that there was much to see. The room was completely bare except for a small piece of dark cloth crumpled in the corner. She hadn’t yet decided if it was worth investigating.

“I know none of this is your fault,” Allison said. “But, I can’t help thinking how different everything would be if I never met you. I mean, I totally get how serious this is, and I know that not knowing about it doesn’t change anything, ‘cause these things are trying to kill everything, including me. But, at least I wouldn’t have to know about it. I could just live my life like none of this was happening. It could be someone else dealing with it instead of me.”

She sank back down to the floor and gently rubbed the heavy curtain material between her thumb and forefinger. 

“That doesn’t make me a bad person, does it?” she asked softly.

“No, it doesn’t,” Erica answered. “Believe it or not, I do know how you feel. I think about it all the time, actually. What if I had died with my brothers? What if my mother hadn’t been able to save us? Then I wouldn’t have spent the last fifty years waiting for the five of you to show up.”

“See,” Allison interrupted. “That’s another thing: Why us? Why now? What’s so special about me and Scott and Derek and Stiles and Jackson?”

“I don’t know,” Erica replied. “All I know is that Melissa’s ability basically disappeared after we went into the house. She had no premonitions at all for the last fifty years until that night when we revealed ourselves to you. Fifty years is a long time, even for us. We didn’t know you would be the right ones when we first saw you, but I remember hoping that you would be. I hoped that it was you more than I hoped for any of the other students we saw come through that house. You have no idea how immature college kids can be sometimes.”

Allison smiled sadly. “I think I do, actually.”

“But, you were different,” Erica continued. “The relationship between Stiles and Derek kind of took us by surprise, but I knew there was something special about the five of you. You know, I think it was actually Derek’s decision to kiss Stiles that started it all. We needed a close-knit group, and you five are probably a lot closer to each other than you even realize. You and Scott were already together and the three boys took to each other so quickly they might as well be brothers, even if Jackson likes to be difficult sometimes. All we needed was one more and when Stiles started hanging around the house we began to hope he was the fifth one we were looking for. And then, your relationships with Derek and Stiles began to develop, and Derek’s feeling for Stiles kept growing stronger, although none of us could understand what it meant. When Derek kissed Stiles, it all became clear and that’s when Melissa had her premonition.”

Erica trailed off and everything was silent for a moment as Allison let Erica’s words sink in. 

“So, what do you think about this whole Violet business?” Allison asked finally. “Do you think we need to kill her?”

“Well,” Erica began thoughtfully. “What do you think we should do?”

Closing her eyes against the barren room, she brought the heels of her hands up to her eyelids and steeled herself against the growing urge to vomit. “I’m not ready to answer that question yet,” she whispered out loud.

“In any case,” Erica went on, “I think it would be a waste to just get rid of her. We should try to find out what she knows, first.”

“You think we should try to get inside of her head like we did with Gerard, don’t you?” Allison asked.

“Yes,” Erica answered, not elaborating.

Allison sat quietly for a moment, took a deep breath, then nodded her head. “We might as well get something done while we wait for the next shoe to drop,” she said as she got up and walked to the back corner of the room.

“Scott,” she thought cast, surprising him into standing up. “I need you to do something for me.”

“What do you need?” Scott asked, concern coming through clearly across the link.

“I need you to take the tape off of Violet’s mouth and carry her into the room that I’m in,” she instructed. “Make sure she doesn’t see me. Then I need you to leave the room and shut the door.”

“What are you gonna do?” asked Scott as he approached Violet, who was eyeing him warily.

“The same thing that I did with Gerard,” she answered. “If you guys are going to go through with what you think you want to do, then we need to get as much information out of her as we can. Before it’s too late.”

“Is that safe?” he asked, peeling the tape off of Violet’s mouth. 

“As safe as it was for me to get into the Gerard’s head,” she replied. “Besides, I won’t really be connected to her like with Lydia’s mind link. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”

“Where are you taking me?” Violet demanded as Scott moved behind her and lifted up her chair from the back. 

Derek and Jackson watched the scene calmly and did their best to appear bored by the whole thing. Ignoring Violet’s question, Scott continued down the hall. He put Violet down for a second so he could open the door, then picked her up again and backed through it so that Violet would have no chance of seeing Allison, who was standing in the far corner. He set Violet down in the middle of the room with her back towards the corner where Allison stood.

“Are you sure about this?” he though cast, turning to look at Allison.

The only answer he got was a barely perceptible nod of her head. Sighing silently, he walked towards the door.

“Hey!” called out Violet in alarm. “Where are you going? Don’t leave me in here!”

He ignored her and closed the door, engulfing the room in darkness. Allison felt a sudden spike in fear that slowly subsided. She assumed Violet could not see very well in the dark. Violet’s silence surprised her; she had expected her to yell and scream for at least a few minutes before resigning herself to the fact that she would just be ignored. Allison guessed she must finally be learning.

“I know you’re in here,” Violet said suddenly with a haughty voice. “I’m not scared of you,” she continued when she got no answer. “Gerard told me what happened when the two of you were alone together. He said you just looked at his eyes and nothing happened.” Violet laughed. “Well, I’m waiting. Come on! Come look at my eyes! They’re really pretty actually. I like to tell people they’re the color of dark chocolate.”

Decidedly non-human emotions assaulted Allison and Erica’s senses as Violet babbled on. Though the emotions were strange, they were easy enough to identify: fear, caution, anxiety, bravado and pride, among others. As before, Violet’s emotions had an edge to them. They were raspy, sharp and uneven. In her fifty-plus years in the house, Erica had gotten pretty good at figuring out what people were like. For the most part, they all wanted to be accepted, and almost without exception, to some degree they were insecure. No matter what anyone said or did or how they behaved, more often than not, it boiled down to just those two things. She could sense neither in Violet.

“All right,” said Erica after a while. “Are you sure we should go in there? I mean, it’s basically an emotional tornado out here, flying debris and all. There’s no telling what it could be like inside.”

“What are you waiting for!” Violet screamed.

“Here comes the temper tantrum,” Allison warned.

Violet tried to jerk her body and make her chair hop around to no avail. 

“Where are you!? I know you’re in here! What are you doing? What did you do to Gerard? Stop it!” she snarled, her voice unbelievably loud for someone so small. “Stop it right now or so help me I will make suffer before I crush you like an insect!”

“They’re right,” Allison conceded. “She’s not human at all. And, she just wants us dead. We need to get in there. We need to know what makes her tick. If we can figure out what they’re doing and why, maybe we can figure out a way to stop them. Jackson,” she thought cast, “it’s time to sever the link.”

She felt herself suddenly cut off from the others again. Having spent so much of her life inside of her own head, she figured it would be an easy state to go back to, but she was fast becoming used to communicating with the others whenever she wanted, no matter how far away they were. Not being able to do that made her feel isolated and vulnerable. Her one consolation was Erica, who was now directing her attention to the task at hand.

Erica’s senses sharpened, like sunlight being focused into a hot fiery point through a magnifying glass. Allison joined her, ready to fortify Erica’s attack should they come up against a wall like they did with Gerard. But, there was no wall, only an impossible whirlwind of emotions moving so fast they could barely register them. The emotions formed a kind of thin shell; whenever Violet needed one, it would be violently sheared off, like the outer layers of a meteor burning through the atmosphere. Though it was not difficult getting through the shell, it was a painful experience, and they quickly found themselves in the eye of the storm.

“She’s empty,” Allison commented. “Just like the professor.”

“Well, not exactly like the professor,” Erica replied. “Gerard still had a piece of his humanity intact, no matter how small it was. There’s nothing left of Violet in here, nothing at all.”

“Let’s look around for a little bit, just in case,” Allison said, spreading her consciousness outward, trying to find some small trace of human emotion. Though they had come through a maelstrom of emotion to get inside, now they could feel nothing of the chaos swirling around on the surface. It was as if the emotions were a protective façade that served as a disguise to be presented to outside world, rather than provide her with any kind of actual substance. Inside of the shell, she was as empty as Braeden had been. The main difference of course being that Braeden had been trapped deep down inside of her body, while there was nothing left of who Violet used to be. There was nothing for them to find.

“Let’s get out of here,” Allison said finally. “We’re not gonna find anything.”

They fled from the darkness inside of Violet, piercing through her shell of emotion as quickly as possible to avoid being hurt by its sharp cutting edges. Violet was still talking, oblivious to what they had done. Allison silently crept towards her until she was standing right behind Violet’s chair.

“How long are you going to keep me here in the dark?” Violet asked. “This is ridiculous. If you’re going to do something, you might as well do it.” Violet laughed. “You know, you don’t have a lot of time left before the others come to rescue us. I hope you’re appreciating these last few hours of life,” she finished, her words dripping with acid.

“I have all the time I need,” Allison whispered in Violet’s ear, causing Violet to yelp in surprise. Allison did a passable job of mimicking Violet’s condescending laugh as Violet whipped her head around and snarled.

“What are you doing?” asked Erica.

“There’s not much that we can do,” Allison answered. “But, I’m going to ask this thing some questions. We can’t trust anything she says, but she might accidentally reveal something useful.”


	19. I Know You Are, But What Am I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allison interrogates Violet, and finally agrees with everyone else that Violet is too dangerous to keep around.

Allison pulled away from Violet, and leaned against the wall with her hands tucked behind the small of her back. Even if the room had not been so dark, Violet would not have been able to turn her head far enough to see her.

“Who are you?” Allison asked, fearful of the answer she might receive. Her disembodied voice drifted across the room, barely more than a whisper.

“Oh, come on! We’re all friends now, aren’t we?” Violet asked in mock surprise. “Don’t tell me you forgot my name already!”

“Your name’s not Violet,” Allison replied. “That’s the name of the girl whose body you stole.”

“Well, if that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black!” Violet exclaimed. “Now, that’s not really fair, is it?” She paused. “You know, it almost makes me sad. I took this body almost six years ago. Time just flies when you’re having fun! But, I think it’s time for a change. I’m starting to like the name ‘Allison’,“ she said seductively.

The hairs on the back of Allison’s neck stood on end, but she ignored the threat.

“How do you do it?” Allison asked. “How do you get inside of people?”

“Well, that’s a dumb question!” Violet answered. “It can’t be that different from how you do it. I mean, these humans are kind of difficult to work with, I'll admit, but beggars can’t be choosers, right?”

“What do you mean ‘difficult’?” Allison pressed.

“They’re just so stubborn!” Violet exclaimed. “I mean, you all had trouble with it, right? Not like those cow things on your planet. Those didn’t have and kind of real personalities, did they? Good job on the breeding, by the way. They practically beg for someone to take over their pathetic little lives.”

Erica bristled at the mention of her home. While it was true that the animals they used for host bodies didn’t really have personalities and had little to no intelligence, they deserved to be treated with respect, just like any other living thing. And, as far as she knew, they were all gone, slaughtered by the same creatures that were threatening them now.

“Give me one reason why I should stop the others from killing you,” Allison said, immediately regretting it. She wasn’t getting the answers she needed and she could sense she was losing control of the interrogation. 

“It looks like the tables have turned, haven’t they,” Violet replied, contemplatively. “I don’t suppose there’s any way to convince you that I don’t have any intention of killing you all.”

Allison sniffed derisively. “Doubtful.” 

“Look,” Violet said. “I’m not really that dangerous, am I? I mean, look at me! You have me all tied up like a calf at the rodeo. Why are you getting so worked up about getting rid of me?”

“What’s to stop you from leaving that body?” Allison asked, taking a step away from the wall. Violet tensed as if she could sense Allison’s movement.

“You know as well as I do that we can’t just come and go as we please,” Violet replied as if she were talking in confidence to a close friend. “I’m completely exhausted and half starved. I probably have as good a chance of killing myself as getting out of this girl’s body.”

“Maybe I should just let you starve to death,” Allison suggested, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“Well, if that’s how you’re going to be, there’s nothing to stop me from trying to leave, is there?” Violet countered, her emotions coming to a sudden stop.

“Try it and you’re dead,” Allison warned, taking another step closer. She felt Violet’s emotions start up again like an engine coming to life.

“Uh-oh,” said Violet, feigning fear. “Kitten’s got her claws out.”

“Maybe I should just kill you right now,” Allison said, closing the distance between them.

Violet laughed. “Oh please, you don’t have it in you! If you were capable of that, I’d be dead already.”

“Keep on talking, and we’ll find out if you’re right,” Allison threatened.

“Okay, you know what, princess?” Violet said rolling her eyes. “This little game we’re playing has been fun and all, but let’s get down to the real reason you have me here. You want information and you don’t know where else to get it. Face it! You know nothing about us and we know everything we need to know about you. You need me.”

“Why?” asked Allison. “We have the professor. I’m sure we only need one of you.”

Violet didn’t answer right away. “Don’t let the bodies fool you, sweetheart. I’m the one in charge here. In fact, you should probably just get rid of him if you want to conserve your resources.”

“What do you mean?” Allison asked cautiously.

“He doesn’t know anything that I don’t,” Violet said with surprising candor. “I, on the other hand, know plenty. You don’t need him.”

From what little she could discern from Violet’s emotions, Violet was telling the truth, but it wasn’t enough to convince her. 

“Why should I believe you?” Allison asked.

“Believe me or don’t, I really don’t care,” Violet snipped. “It’s the truth.”

Allison pondered for a moment, then asked, “What are you suggesting we do with him?” 

Violet shrugged. “Kill him?”

Allison threw up her hands. “Yeah, right! Like you really expect me to believe that you want us to kill him! Why would you even say that? What’s wrong with you?”

Violet’s eyes tried to follow the sound of Allison’s movement as she walked around to stand in front of her. Allison thought for a moment of opening the windows a little so that Violet could see, but decided against it.

“Why are you doing this?” Allison asked finally. There was little satisfaction in Violet’s tiny jump of surprise at Allison’s voice, which was coming from in front of her now, rather than behind.

“Doing what?” Violet asked, smiling obnoxiously.

Allison blinked a few times. “Why are you trying to kill us? What do you want? What did we do to you? Why do you want to destroy this planet?”

Violet sighed and looked irritated. “Why does anyone do anything?” she asked. “This is what we do. This is what we are. We eat until there’s nothing left to eat, and then we move on.” Violet smiled sweetly in the direction she thought Allison was standing. “It’s not personal.”

“Not personal?!” Allison exclaimed, infuriated. “You’re trying to kill us! All of us! You’re trying to kill our world!”

Tilting her head to one side, Violet asked, “What’s that saying these people have? Oh, right, ‘If you want to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs.’ Now, I’m not sure if that saying actually applies to this specific situation, but I think you get my point. And, what do you mean, ‘your world’? This isn’t your planet any more than it is ours. Don’t tell me you actually care about these humans!” she spat in disgust. 

“Oh wait,” she began again, then paused to laughed. “That’s right! You do! Oh, poor Aiden! I can’t wait to see how you react when one of your little friends die.”

Before she realized what she was doing, Allison slapped Violet’s face so hard that her head whipped around and her chair threatened to tip over. Momentarily blinding Violet with the late afternoon sun by throwing open the curtains, she screamed and stormed out of the room.

“I’m done!” she yelled angrily. “Do whatever you want with her! I don’t care!”

The three boys rushed into the room to find Violet smirking at them, her cheek red and beginning to swell. Jackson and Derek looked at each at each other in confusion, but Scott walked between them and stood in front of the girl. Shaking his head and sighing, he walked around the chair to pick it up from the back. Jackson and Derek followed as he carried Violet back into the living room and deposited her next to the professor. Before she could say anything to further condemn herself, he put a piece of tape over her mouth, and then went to stand with the others.

“What did she say?” Lydia thought cast, reestablishing Allison’s link to everyone.

Allison grimaced and shook her head. “She was horrible!” Looking a bit disoriented, she sank into one of the chairs, and buried her face in her hands. “You were right,” she said, letting out an exasperated sigh. “There’s nothing human about her at all.”

“Were you able to learn anything useful,” asked John.

She looked up at Scott and gave him a defeated nod. “There was one thing, but I don’t know how it can help us.”

“Yes?” John pressed.

“They think that we’re like them, or I guess that you're like them, that you just take over people’s bodies and that’s it, that the people are just gone. They don’t know that I’m still Allison, and Scott’s still Scott,” she said, gesturing at Scott with an open hand. “I guess they think you take over our bodies and we just disappear, like the real Violet did,” she finished softly.

“Well, at least that’s something,” Lydia replied. “Don’t take knowledge for granted; it’s the most important resource we have. It might seem trivial, but knowing this might give us an advantage over them.” She paused to think for a moment. “Did she say anything else?”

“She said something weird about humans being difficult to work with?” Allison said confused. “It didn’t really make any sense, but she said that humans are stubborn? I don’t know. Was it difficult to bond with us?”

“Yes, in a way,” Melissa replied. “But, as far as I know it wasn’t much different than any other sentient being. Of course, Derek is the only sentient being I’ve ever personally tried to bond with.”

“All we really know about that is from some experiments done several thousand years ago,” Lydia added. “It’s like we explained to you in the beginning. We needed your consent for it to work properly. If you fought it, then it’s likely we all would have died in the process. Bonding with a sentient being is much more difficult than bonding with a different type of organism, and once the bond is done, it’s that much harder to undo. Now, how any of this applies to them would simply be conjecture since we still know almost nothing about the way they’re able to inhabit the bodies of others. It almost seems like a parasitic relationship, whereas ours is symbiotic. It’s disgusting really, the way she compares us to them.”

“Was there more?” asked Scott.

Nodding, Allison continued, “She told me that she’s the one in charge and that she’s the one who knows everything. She said we don’t need Gerard and we should just get rid of him if we want to conserve our resources.”

Jackson snorted. “Well, I think it’s pretty safe to say that we’re not taking any advice from her.”

“Look,” Derek added. “Right now, I don’t really know how I feel about Gerard, but we can deal with him later. But, we need to do something about Violet. As far as I’m concerned, she’s too dangerous to keep around.” He looked into Allison’s eyes. “You said it yourself, she’s not human, and she would love nothing more than for all of us to die.”

Scott put his hands on Allison’s shoulders. After looking into her eyes, he glanced down and sighed. Lifting his head again, he continued, “It’s your call. You too, Erica. We’re in this together. We’re not going to force you to go along with this just because the eight of us decided it was the right thing to do. If you two say no, then it’s no. But, you need to think about this. What possible reason is there for keeping her alive, when every second she’s here brings us that closer to the end for every living thing on Earth?”

Allison bit her lip as a tear fell down her cheek. “So, this is what you all think?”

“We do,” Stiles thought cast to her from wherever he was. 

“The eight of us are agreed on this,” said John. “We discussed it while you and Erica where questioning her in the other room. These creatures not only destroyed our world, but all fifteen planets in the alliance. They deserve your sympathy less than one of those criminals you keep in your maximum-security prisons.”

“Erica?” Allison asked.

“I don’t know, Allison,” Erica answered, uncertainly. “As far as we know, we’re the last of our kind. And, it’s because of these _things_. I don’t feel safe with her here. As far as the professor is concerned, the only reason we’re not talking about him is because he still has part of his humanity left. It might be too late for him, but as long as there’s a chance, I don’t think we should hurt him. But, there is no hope for Violet. Violet’s already dead, and the longer the thing that killed her is here, the more dangerous it is for us.”

Allison looked up at Scott, searching for any sign that he might change his mind. 

“They’re right, Allison,” he said. “You know they are.”

“It’s too dangerous to keep her alive,” Jackson insisted. “She’s always watching us and she’s smart. Really smart. Sooner or later, she’s gonna find a way to take advantage of us. It would be different if the real Violet was still inside of her, but she’s not.”

“There’s nothing we can do for her,” Scott added. “This is hard for us too, but we have to accept the truth. How long are we gonna carry her around? We can’t let her go. What else are we gonna do?” 

“Look,” said Allison, standing up. “I’m not saying that you’re all wrong. It’s just that there’s no coming back from this. If we kill her, as justified as it may be, it’ll change us.” She paused and grabbed Scott’s hands. His emotions were conflicted as she looked into his eyes. “Is that who we are? Is that who we want to be?”

Scott thought for a second, then shook his head slightly. “What choice do we have?”

Closing her eyes against the sudden wetness there, she shook her head. “No, you’re right. I know you’re right.” She let go of his hands and walked back towards the bedroom. Turning to face them again, she said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t be here when you all do whatever it is you’re going to do.”

Scott frowned, but nodded. “We’ll come get you when it’s over,” he said, turning to look at Violet.

Allison went back into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. She broke her connection to the others as she sank to the floor with her back against the wall. She was grateful that Jackson didn’t try to reestablish it, understanding that she wouldn’t want to experience any part, however small, of what they were about to do. It was bad enough that the memory of it would still linger once her connection to them was later restored, but at least for now, she could be alone in the dark with her thoughts.

“I’m glad you left,” Erica said.

Allison laughed a little. “I keep forgetting that I’m never really alone anymore.”

“I think the others probably would have wanted me to stay,” Erica continued. “To watch, I mean, after everything those things did to us. I understand why we need to get rid of her, but I’m glad you left.”

They were quiet for a moment. The quiet was good, but they were afraid that if they were quiet for too long, that they might hear something they didn’t want to.

“Tell me more about what your planet was like,” Allison asked. “What did you all do for fun?”

* * *

Scott and Jackson watched Derek warily as he went to stand in front of Violet.

“What are you gonna do?” Jackson thought cast to him.

“I don’t know,” Derek answered, taking a deep breath. “I’ve never done this before.”

Violet was looking up at him defiantly. 

Scott walked over to stand next to him. “Unless you want to use your bare hands, the only thing we really have is the chain.”

“What happened to Gerard’s gun?” thought cast Isaac from the other side of town.

“We must have left it in his office,” answered Derek with a shrug. “It was pretty crazy in there; I guess we just didn’t think to bring it with us.”

“It would have been easier with the gun, “ said Jackson, nodding.

“Yes,” Scott agreed. “It would have been easier. But, doing something like this probably shouldn’t be easy.”

Suddenly, Derek’s eyes went wide and his head snapped up. 

“They’re here!” Melissa called out. “Stiles! Isaac! Come back! We need you!”

“We’re coming!” Stiles responded. They were a few miles away, but it would take only minutes for them to return. 

Lydia simultaneously reestablished her link to Erica and Allison, and asked them to check for strange emotional signatures. Erica and Allison quickly spread out their senses to encompass the whole building. 

“I feel something,” Allison said. “It’s outside on the sidewalk. It’s not human.”

Erica focused her thoughts on the faint trace of emotion and shot towards it like an arrow as Allison ran out of the room.

“What’s happening?” Allison thought cast anxiously. 

“The others are here,” Derek answered quickly. “There’s four, maybe five of them; I’m not sure. I just got a glimpse. Are you picking up anything?”

“Erica’s checking out whatever’s at the sidewalk,” Allison said nervously. “We can’t feel the others.”

Picking up the professor in his chair, Scott yelled to them. “Let’s get these two separated!” While moving the professor to the far wall, he continued, “I want them as far apart as possible and I don’t want them to be able to see each other. But, make sure we can still keep an eye on them.”

Derek picked up Violet and carried her to the opposite side of the room, setting her down so that she faced the wall.

“Should I see if I can connect to any of them?” asked Lydia nervously. Jackson’s eyes widened in fear, but he hoped they would approve of the idea.

“Okay,” said John. “But, the instant you feel anything, anything at all, you break it off, got it?”

Jackson nodded.

“Just see if you can figure out how many there are,” John instructed. “If you get anything more, that’s good, but we don’t know what these new ones are capable of and we don’t have the luxury of throwing everything we have at them in order to rescue you if something goes wrong, got it?”

Jackson nodded again and closed his eyes. He and Lydia broke contact with the others to keep them safe, and began probing the floors below them room by room with their minds.

At the sidewalk, Erica had done a cursory evaluation of the presence there. It had not moved at all since they had first discovered it, and the emotion she was able to sense coming from it was so faint she was surprised Allison had been able to pick it up at all. 

“What is it?” asked Allison, joining her as she tested the faint emotions coming from the newcomer for herself.

“It’s calm is what it is,” said Erica, irritated at her inability to get a clearer picture of what the thing was feeling.

“So, we’re feeling its actual emotions, right?” Allison asked. “Do you feel that metallic tang?”

“Yeah,” Erica replied. “It’s like Violet, but I think it has more control over itself than Violet does. I don’t like it.”

“This is bad,” Allison said. “And, we won’t be able to tell anyone anything until Lydia and Jackson let us link up again. Until they do, we just need to stay near this thing and hope we can figure out more about it.”

It pained Allison to watch Derek, Scott, and Jackson, and not be able to tell them what little she knew about what was going on. John’s advice about the importance of knowledge reverberated in her head, and she refused to vocalize what she knew, fearing that Violet and Gerard might realize that she was able to do things beyond the range of normal human ability. The next few minutes passed by slowly enough to make her want to scream. 

After what seemed like an hour, Jackson opened his eyes, and everyone’s thoughts came flooding back into Allison’s head.

“We found them,” he thought cast anxiously. “Besides the one on the sidewalk out front, there are two on the first floor, two on the second floor, and two more on the third. They’re moving slowly and they’re here for these two,” he explained, pointing at Violet and Gerard. 

“They’re being really careful, though,” Lydia continued. “They already know we can communicate without speaking and they assume we have other abilities as well, but they don’t know what those abilities are. That’s all we got.”

“The one in the front of the building has real emotions, like Violet,” Erica chimed in. “It’s probably the leader of this group.”

“It is,” Lydia confirmed. ”Stick with it,” she instructed Allison and Erica. “Let us know if you figure out anything else. For now, we hold tight and wait for Stiles and Isaac. If those things make it up here before they do, then we fight, but I don’t think we should risk that unless we absolutely have to.” 

Allison sat down on the beds, hoping her weight would make some kind of difference when their assailants finally made it to their apartment. She sent her thoughts out to the one on the sidewalk to keep vigil with Erica until there was something more they could do.


	20. Separation Anxiety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles is kidnapped, and Derek, understandably, is freaking out.

The houses along the streets flew by as Stiles barreled down the sidewalks faster than was probably wise. He tried to remain calm. Though he was running much slower than he could have, he was traveling at a pace impossible for any normal human being, and all he could do was hope that no one noticed. The late afternoon sun did little to conceal his movements as he quickly approached the apartment building.

His friends, holed up in the apartment furthest from the front door, had not been able to provide very much information about the creatures trying to find them. All he knew was that one of their assailants was standing outside on the sidewalk and six more were searching the building room by room. As he got closer, he was able to make out the figure standing in front of the apartment building, finally putting a visual to the emotions that Allison and Erica had been picking up from that area. The man was average height, clean-cut with brown hair. His long black overcoat made him look like an FBI agent. 

Regardless of how fast he was going, Stiles knew his footsteps were silent, and unless the man had some kind of special ability, he would not realize Stiles was there until it was too late. The man did not turn around as Stiles approached. Stiles’ friends watched through his eyes as he ran up behind him. With a flying leap, he clasped his hands together and brought them down on the man’s back. Throwing him over one shoulder before he could fall to the ground, Stiles quickly carried him to the apartment building and through the front doors. He took a quick glance behind him at the street. It didn’t appear like anyone had seen what had happened.

Dragging the unconscious man behind the counter in the lobby, he tied up his hands and feet with two of the zip ties from his pocket. Though the sounds were faint, he could hear the others searching the floors above. 

“They’re all on fourth floor,” Lydia thought cast to him. “They’ve already finished searching the rest of the building. You need to hurry! They’re almost here!”

Stiles gritted his teeth and ran down the dark hallway. All of the doors were open and light was coming through from each apartment. He reached the door to the stairwell in less than a second, knowing he was burning through his energy reserves at an incredible rate, but with the others so close to his friends, he couldn’t waste any time. Another few seconds found him on the fourth floor.

“I can’t give you a lot,” Isaac said. “We’re almost spent. You have one, maybe two seconds at the most.”

Stiles took a deep breath as the tingling jittery sensation coursed through his body. The dust motes floating through the beams of sunlight came into sharp focus, slowed, then froze. Before he had even formed the conscious thought of action, he was off down the hall. 

He had a rough idea of where their assailants were, and he entered the first room where he thought he would find one of them. He blinked in surprise when he saw her, a young Asian girl who couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen, wearing jeans and a pink T-shirt, her shiny black hair cut into a severe bob that stopped just beneath her ears. She was frozen in the act of reaching for the closet door. 

It hurt him to think of what he had to do, but he realized he had precious little time for mercy. Bolting through the room at full speed, he let the inertia of his movement continue as he stretched out his arm, his fist smashing into her face, catapulting her across the room. When his fist lost contact with her, she remained frozen in midair. He knew that the moment he dropped back into the normal flow of time, she would continue her arc towards the wall.

As if to prove his theory, the last of his energy reserves ran out, and she flew across the room, smashed into the wall and collapsed to the floor. He quickly turned to face the sound of footsteps hurrying towards him as the tingling sensations left his body.

“That’s it; there’s nothing left,” Isaac said, sounding exhausted. “Be careful.”

His eyes grew wide as a slightly overweight middle-aged man with thinning brown hair appeared in the doorway. His extra speed was gone and if his first fight with Braeden was any indicator, this new opponent would be more than a match for him. His eyes searched wildly around the room as the man approached; there was nothing in the room that he could use as a weapon.

The man lunged at him, trying to grab him with his long arms. Stiles ducked down and stepped to the side as the man’s momentum carried him past the spot where Stiles had been standing. Quickly spinning around as he rose, Stiles snapped his foot forward, kicking the man in the small of his back. The man grunted as he fell to the floor, but was back on his feet before Stiles could take a breath. 

There were more footsteps in the hall, moving quickly towards him. The others would be there in seconds and then they would have a five to one advantage against him. Realizing he was running out of time, he made a desperate and risky move by launching himself at the man, hoping to catch him by surprise. His fist landed squarely on the man’s chin, whipping his head up and to the side. The man staggered backwards looking dazed, but he shook his head and took a step towards Stiles with his fists guarding his face like a boxer.

Derek’s panic reached Stiles across the link as the footsteps drew closer. The man’s fist was flying towards his face, giving him no time to assess the new threats. 

He saw Derek grab the mattresses in front of the door and throw them to the side. 

Stiles deflected the fist and punched straight forward, hitting the man in the windpipe, dropping him gasping to the floor. He could hear Derek screaming his name as Derek grabbed the doorknob. And then, Derek’s voice went silent, and Stiles’ vision went white.

* * *

Derek burst into the hallway as the door to the stairwell at the opposite end of the hall closed. He was almost to the end of the dimly lit corridor before the others recovered from the shock of losing their connection to Stiles. Scott, Allison, and Jackson spilled out into the hall after Derek and followed.

“Derek! Wait!” Allison screamed, but it was no use. 

He disappeared through the stairwell door before they had made it halfway down the hall. Scott slammed the door open when he got there and peered into the darkness. Derek was almost to the bottom. 

Scott yelled, “Derek!” 

Derek ignored him and plowed through the door leading to the first floor. He ran through the front doors of the building and stood blinking at the bright emptiness of the street, his hands on his head as he looked around desperately for any sign of Stiles or the people who had taken him. A family in an old brown station wagon drove by as he dropped to his knees, the little boy sitting in the back seat staring as Derek’s chest heaved from exertion. It was like an establishing shot for a 70’s sitcom: a perfectly normal day. Like nothing had happened. The station wagon drove down the street, and then turned the corner, leaving an empty street behind it. Stiles was gone. 

Scott, Allison and Jackson caught up to Derek and began to look around for any signs of where their attackers could have gone. Derek felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Did you see anything?” It was Allison, her voice heavy with concern.

He couldn’t think. His mind was racing, images flashing too fast for him to fully register: Stiles’ sneaker, a blonde-haired woman wearing a business suit, oak trees, whitewash, a flash of brown the color of Stiles’ hair, a black SUV, the number 6, the letter B. The images stopped, like a movie reel running out of film. He collapsed to his knees, his breathing shallow. Stiles was gone. Stiles was gone. 

Erica could feel the ragged emotions coming off in sporadic waves from Derek’s shoulders. In all of her many years of life, she had never felt anything like it.

“Guys!” Allison called out. “I think we have a problem.”

Scott and Jackson rushed to their side. Allison gave them a worried look, then looked back down at Derek and put her hand on his head. Scott knelt down in front of Derek and grabbed his shoulders.

“Hey Derek, look at me,” he said, shaking him gently.

Derek’s vacant eyes rose to meet his.

“We’re going to get him back!” Scott searched Derek’s eyes, trying to find some sign that he understood what he was saying. “You hear me? We’re gonna find him!”

“They took him, Scott,” Derek whispered, his voice hollow. “They took him from me.”

Scott looked up at Allison and thought cast to her directly. “What kind of read are you getting from him?”

Taking note of the little worry-crease that had formed between Scott’s eyebrows, she answered, “It’s jumbled, fragmented, but it’s slowing down.”

“We need to get him inside,” John said. “There’s nothing you can do out here on the street, and you need to see to the three that Stiles incapacitated before he was abducted.”

Scott looked back down at Derek. “I’m gonna help you up and we’re gonna go back to the apartment, okay? We’re going to find him if it’s the last thing we do; I promise you. Are you listening to me?”

Derek blinked, sending a single tear to trace its way down his cheek, but he nodded and they rose together. With one arm around Derek’s waist, Scott led him back to the building. He turned to the other two, saying, “I’ll get him back to the apartment. See if you can find the guy in the trench coat and the other two that Stiles was fighting with.”

Allison and Jackson followed Scott and Derek back inside and shut the door. It was eerily silent in the lobby after the assault on the building. Scott led Derek down the hall to the stairs as Allison and Jackson went to check behind the counter in the lobby. There was no one there. Allison frowned, figuring the man in the trench coat had been carried off by the others of his group. They made their way back to the hall and quickly caught up to Scott and Derek who had not yet made it to the stairwell.

Allison reached out tentatively with her mind. Derek was strangely calm after everything that had happened. Though she had never known him to be an overly emotional person, this was not how she would have expected him to react to this type of situation. Though it worried her, she was more scared than worried. She hoped he wouldn’t let the helplessness of the situation consume him, or worse, snap out of it suddenly and do something that would get himself hurt.

“We'll need to keep an eye on him,” Erica said. “Derek will do anything to protect us, especially Stiles. We need to make sure he doesn’t do something crazy.”

Allison nodded, but did not answer. She was startled at first when she realized she was hearing the dull thud of footsteps against the metal stairs. Derek seemed to have reverted to his pre-bonded state and his big feet were clomping down on the steps exactly as she assumed they would have done before Melissa had taken up residence inside of his mind. Normally, a group of their size would be making quite a ruckus as they climbed up the metal staircase, but the only footsteps she could hear were Derek’s. Try as she might, the only other sounds she could hear were the soft whispers of fabric as their clothing moved with their bodies. 

They passed the doors to the second and third floors in silence. Scott ushered Derek through the door to the fourth floor and held it open for the other two to follow. Not knowing which apartment Stiles had been fighting in, Allison and Jackson had to stop and inspect each one as Derek and Scott headed down the corridor to the last apartment at the end.

“This is it,” Allison announced at the third one, finding the man Stiles had been fighting, lying still on the floor.

Jackson stepped around her and knelt down beside him, pressing two fingers to the man’s neck. He looked up at Allison.

“I can’t feel anything,” he said. “He doesn’t have a pulse.”

“Are you sure?” Allison asked, worried.

Jackson stood up and looked around while Allison knelt down to check for herself.

“The girl’s gone,” he noted. “They probably took her, too.”

Giving up on finding a heartbeat, Allison looked from one side of the room to the other, but saw nothing that could help them figure out what happened. She could see in her mind’s eye where the girl was supposed to be, where she had fallen after Stiles had sent her flying across the room. Allison stood up.

“Why did they take her and leave him?” she asked, still looking around the room for she knew not what. She turned to look at Jackson. “Do you think that thing inside of him died when he did?” she asked, gesturing at the man on the floor.

Jackson shrugged. “We can hope.” He squinted his eyes at the man lying on the floor. “Do you think Stiles meant to kill him?”

Allison shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t know,” she whispered, lowering herself to her knees, next to the man’s body. “I don’t know.”

Kneeling down beside her, Jackson put an arm over her shoulders. 

“Jackson, “ Allison began, her voice beginning to shake, “there are two dead bodies with us in this building now, and two people tied up in chairs down the hall. They’ve taken Stiles to God knows where, and we have no idea how many more of them are out there.” She paused and took a deep, steadying breath and covered her face with her hands. “What are we doing? What are we supposed to do?”

Jackson gave her a quick squeeze. “Right now, we concentrate on staying alive. That’s all we can do. If we can do that, then we can worry about everything else, later. We need to get back to Scott and Derek. There’s nothing we can do for him, now.”

She nodded and let Jackson pull her to her feet. They arrived back at the apartment to find Derek sitting in a seemingly catatonic state at the table. Scott was standing at the window. Allison came up behind him and put her arms around his waist, pressing the side of her face to his back. Jackson closed the door and put the mattresses back in front of it.

“Has he said anything?” Allison asked.

“No,” Scott answered, almost inaudibly. He reached around and turned so that he faced her, her arms still around his waist. “What are you feeling from him?”

“Same,” she answered, thought casting Derek’s emotions to him so that he could feel them for himself. It was easier than explaining.

Scott frowned. “He’s in shock. The thing with him and Stiles; it was so new. To just have it ripped away from him like that, on top of everything else...” Scott trailed off, shaking his head.

Allison bit her bottom lip and turned to look at Derek, his eyes unfocused, staring at some unidentifiable point in front of him. “I just hope he doesn’t do something stupid like trying to go off on his own to find Stiles.” She returned her gaze to Scott’s face. “How are we going to find him?” she asked. “Why did they take him?”

“Who knows; it could be anything,” Scott answered. “But, we can’t think about that right now. Trying to figure out what they want with him isn’t going to help us.” He suddenly remembered that Violet and the professor were in the room with them and he hoped they hadn’t said anything important in front of them. “Can you connect to Stiles yet?” he thought cast to Jackson and Lydia.

Jackson shook his head, but it was Lydia who answered, “We can’t reach him. He must still be unconscious. The minute he wakes up, we’ll know and we’ll be able to figure out where he is. Until that happens, our only source of information is Melissa and Derek.”

“I don’t think Derek can help us right now,” Allison said.

“Well, what about Melissa?” thought cast Scott. “Melissa? Melissa, are you in there?”

“She might not be able to help us either,” John said. “We’re part of you now, so any trauma you experience, we experience too, even emotional trauma. She may recover faster than Derek does, but she also needs to overcome the shock of losing Stiles.”

“So that leaves us in the dark for now,” Scott said, looking out of the window at the early evening sky. 

A solitary crow called out into the crisp autumn air, hidden among the branches of a tree. Allison shivered suddenly and Scott held her tight. She wasn’t cold; she didn’t know what had brought it on. She watched as Jackson dug into a pizza box for a cold slice of pizza. Releasing Scott from her arms, she joined Jackson at the table, suddenly realizing how hungry she was. They were both surprised when Derek pulled a pizza box closer to himself and began to absentmindedly munch on a slice of his own. She realized she had been holding her breath as he had scooted the box across the tabletop, unsure of what he was going to do with it. His eyes remained vacant and unfocused as he ate, but she still smiled a little in relief.

Scott turned back to the window and crossed his arms. The crow took off to join three others that were flying overhead. He narrowed his eyes wondering if the toothy balls of smoke were able to posses and control animal minds as well.

“It’s a good question,” John said. “You are of course aware that we were unable to gather any intel on them before Queen Talia orchestrated our escape. They may very well be able to posses all manner of creatures.”

“So, what you’re basically telling me is that nowhere is safe,” Scott replied, keeping the conversation between himself and John so as to not alarm the others.

“Even if they’re not able to control animals in the same way that they control people, I would still have to tell you that nowhere is safe,” John began. “You have very few options here, and hiding is not one of them. They will find you, eventually, even if it means stripping this planet of all life to do it, which is what they intend to do whether they find you or not.”

“You said there were options,” Scott answered with a sigh. “But, what I think you’re trying to say is that we really only have one option. We need to hunt these things down somehow and kill them before they kill us.”

“Yes,” John affirmed. “I don’t think you’ll be able to reason with them and I don’t see any benefit to keeping them locked up. Even if you decided to try that, we still don’t know what would even work. That’s assuming of course that we could extract them from their hosts.”

“Well, speaking of effective means, do you have any ideas on how to actually kill one of these things?” Scott asked. “By my count, at most we’ve managed to kill one of them: the one that Stiles smashed with the chain from the front door. It’s possible that Stiles killed another one when that guy died back there, but we have no way of confirming that. We don’t have a good way of finding these things, and when we do find them, we don’t know how to get rid of them.”

John had no answer for him.

“Hey, what’s going on over there?” Allison thought cast at him, her voice intruding on his thoughts. 

He turned his head to see her arching an eyebrow at him. 

“Your emotions are getting pretty dark,” she continued. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” he answered, shaking his head slightly. “I’m just thinking.”

Not satisfied with his answer, she kept her gaze on him a few moments longer, but eventually turned back to face Jackson when she realized no further explanation was coming. She picked a miniscule piece of bell pepper off of her pizza and reached over to put it on Derek’s. For just a second, she thought she saw a glint of amusement in his eyes, but it was gone just as fast. She sighed and took a bite of her food.

“It’s not perfect,” Scott heard John start up again, “but Lydia, Erica, and Melissa’s abilities can help us to locate these monsters. And, we already know they’re susceptible when they leave their host body. They’re almost fragile, really.”

Scott knew where he was going. “Erica and Lydia would have to check people one by one. There are what? Six billion people on the planet, not to mention any animals these things may or may not be inside of. And you know Derek and Melissa’s premonitions are hit or miss. If I’m understanding our situation correctly, time is not on our side.”

“Now that you mention it, time seems to be an unknown variable,” John replied.

“What do you mean?” Scott asked.

“Comparatively speaking, our first encounter with them wasn’t actually that long,” John explained. “They decimated fifteen planets in a little over a year. They’ve been on Earth with us for over fifty years. By all rights, Earth should be a lifeless rock by now. Why haven’t they already consumed everything living and moved on, as Violet claims is typical of their behavior?”

“Well, I’m not in any kind of hurry for that to happen,” replied Scott. “But, it’s a good question. Violet did say something about humans being difficult. Stubborn, she called us. Maybe it has something to do with that?”

“Yes, it might be an incompatibility issue. We can ask her to clarify,” John suggested.

“No,” Scott answered quickly. “The last thing we need is for Violet to get everyone riled up. She’ll figure out something to say that’ll set someone off and we can’t afford that, right now. We need everyone to keep their heads on straight, so we can figure out what to do about Stiles. We need to figure out where they took him and how to get him back.”

“They want to make a trade,” Derek thought cast suddenly. 

Scott whipped around to look at Derek who was staring directly at him from the table, holding a half eaten slice of pizza in his hands. He still seemed a little dazed, but he was aware enough to share the premonition with them.

“They want to trade Violet and Gerard for Stiles,” he continued. “Someone will be here to make the offer in an hour.”


	21. Fun with Base-jumping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allison and Scott stage a scene to divert attention from Derek and Jackson, who have decided to jump out of their fourth floor window so they can rescue Isaac and Stiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what happens when your characters take over the story and you are not able to stop them.

Allison realized she was biting her nails, a habit she thought she had gotten rid of her freshman year of high school. Quickly pulling her hand away from her mouth, she turned away from the window and looked at her friends. Scott seemed to be lost in thought, probably discussing strategy with John. Jackson was sitting quietly, warily watching Derek for any kind of irrational behavior. Derek had retreated back into his semi-catatonic state after announcing that someone would be coming to negotiate the trade of Violet and Gerard for Stiles over half an hour ago.

“Hey, Allison,” Scott thought cast to her. 

She turned to look at him. “Yeah?”

Scott turned to Jackson. “I don’t want Derek and Melissa hearing any of this. He has too much on his mind right now.”

“Okay,” Jackson thought cast back, otherwise giving no indication that he had heard anything.

Scott turned back to her. “I want to get Stiles back as much as Derek does, but we can’t just hand over Violet and Gerard to those things.”

“I know,” she replied. “But, what choice do we have?”

“We have, what? Fifteen minutes left?” he said, his brow furrowing. “We have to think of something.”

“What did John say?” Allison asked. “He knows about these kinds of things, right?”

“I’m sorry,” John replied, “but, I don’t see a course of action that ends favorably for us in this situation. While I’m not inclined to trust these creatures, I’m afraid all we can do now is hope that they hold up their end of the bargain.”

“You’re not suggesting we go through with this!” exclaimed Lydia. “I guarantee you this so-called negotiation is going to be a trap!”

“Look,” Erica began, trying to calm her sister down, “they have no way of knowing that we know they’re coming. Shouldn’t we at least hear what they have to say before we try to figure out what to do?”

Lydia sniffed in disgust.

“I’m with Erica on this,” Jackson said, keeping his gaze on Derek, who was unaware of the conversation they were all having. “Stiles and Isaac saved us,” he added. “We owe him. We can’t just leave them with these _things_. “ He squinted his eyes at Derek. “Plus, Derek here is going to seriously lose it if we don’t get Stiles back soon.”

Scott sighed and shook his head. “Right now, what I’m thinking if we don’t make the trade is, best case scenario, they kill him. Worst case, they’re gonna want to figure out what makes him tick, which will either end up killing him or make him wish he was dead. God only knows what these monsters are capable of.”

Allison cringed at the thought of Stiles being strapped down to a table as the creatures did experiments on him. What would happen if one of the smoke things tried to go inside of him while Isaac was still in there?

“I think Erica is right, as well,” John said. “We can’t make any decisions until we talk to whoever they send. Once we know where they intend this trade to take place, we can come up with a plan.”

“There’s someone here!” Lydia announced suddenly as Jackson sprung out of his chair, his eyes wide.

Derek jerked his head up at the sudden movement.

“Is it one of them?” thought cast Scott.

“Yes,” Jackson answered.

“All right,” Scott said, walking towards the table with Allison following. “They still don’t know which apartment we’ve been hiding in. It’s not much of an advantage, but I’m not willing to give it up if we don’t have to. We should meet them in the hallway.”

“What about Violet and Gerard?” Jackson asked, gesturing at their two captives. “We can’t leave them here alone.”

Frowning, Scott answered, “Someone’s gonna have to stay here with them.”

“I’m going with you,” Derek said suddenly, standing up from his chair.

Scott knew better than to argue with him. “It’s probably better if you come anyway,” he said, sizing up their large friend, trying to determine if he would be able to handle the meeting without pummeling the messenger into the ground. “Something they say or do could trigger one of your premonitions, and we need all the information we can get right now.” He turned to Jackson and Allison. “Can you two stay with them? Your abilities will work just as well from here if we’re just down the hall.”

“Sure,” Allison thought cast as Jackson nodded.

“Okay,” Scott said, looking up at Derek. “Let’s go. We don’t want them to see us coming out of the room.”

Derek nodded solemnly and headed towards the door. Allison gave Scott a worried look that Scott returned with a sigh.

“Just keep tabs on him, okay?” he thought cast to her, making sure that Derek would not hear. “If you think he’s gonna do something crazy, let me know.”

“All right,” Allison thought cast back, fear permeating her voice.

Scott followed Derek out through the open door. “Don’t forget to put the mattresses back,” he said, closing the door behind him.

He jogged a little to catch up with Derek, whose long strides had already taken him almost halfway down the hall. They could hear the footsteps coming up the stairs. It sounded like a woman wearing high heels.

“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Scott asked.

Derek’s face was expressionless, but he gave a slight nod. They stopped a few feet from the entrance to the stairwell. Derek crossed his large arms across his chest, while Scott opted for a less intimidating pose, clasping his hands behind his back. Scott began to feel anxious as the footsteps grew closer. If Derek was feeling any nervousness, it didn’t show.

The footsteps stopped and the door opened, a tall blonde woman in a gray pinstripe business suit walking through. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a loose bun, with a few artfully placed wisps falling down around her face to soften the effect. Her amber eyes warmed as she broke into a radiant smile, as if she were reuniting with long lost friends rather than mortal enemies.

“Oh! I didn’t expect you all to come out and meet me!” she exclaimed in surprise. “Hello, my name is Kate Wagner. You must be Scott McCall and Derek Hale,” she said, extending her hand.

“It’s really creepy how they keep using our names,” Scott thought cast to Derek.

Derek didn’t respond, nor did he shake the woman’s hand. 

“Why don’t you tell us what you want,” Scott said calmly.

Kate withdrew her hand, but her fake smile remained. “Well, there’s no reason to be testy! I’m just here to arrange for a mutually beneficial exchange, is all. You do want him back, don’t you?” she answered, giving Derek an innocent yet meaningful look.

“He’s fine,” Allison thought cast to Scott, answering his unanswered question. “And, this Kate person is like Violet. She has the weird alien emotions. She is not scared of you, so be careful.”

“Yes we want him back,” Scott said when it became apparent that Derek was not going to answer. “You want to trade him for Violet and Gerard, right?”

Kate’s smile grew wider and she nodded. “Very good!” she said jabbing her finger at Scott. “They told me you were the clever one.”

Scott tried to keep his expression neutral. “Where and how are we going to do this?” he asked.

“Well, you don’t beat around the bush, do you?” Kate replied, tossing her head to the side with a slight laugh. “Look, here’s my business card,” she said, digging into her purse and pulling out a small white card, holding it between two of her fingers for Scott. 

He took the card from her and slid it into his pocket without looking at it. 

She laughed again. “To be honest with you, we haven’t figured that part out yet. This all just happened so fast,” she commented with a shrug. “I just wanted to make sure I got here before you decided to something . . .” she paused, trying to find the right word. “Impulsive? Like send a rescue party?” she continued, laughing and slapping the side of her leg at her own joke. “Just sit tight, we’ll be in touch,” she said with a smile and a wink. 

Zipping up her purse, she turned from the two boys and turned to head back down the stairwell. 

“Wait!” Derek shouted suddenly. “That’s it? Where’s Stiles!? Bring him back right now!”

Ignoring him, Kate opened the door and let it close behind her while Scott did his best to keep Derek from running after her.

“Derek, stop!” he said, getting in front of him, with his hands pressed against Derek’s chest. Scott knew if Derek decided he was going to get down the stairwell, there was little Scott would be able to do to stop him.

“Chasing after her is not going to bring Stiles back,” Scott continued as he watched Derek’s expression change from explosive rage to disappointed confusion. 

“Come on,” Scott said. “Let’s get back to the others.”

He walked Derek back to the apartment, making sure to stay between Derek and the stairwell. Allison and Jackson had already moved the mattresses and opened the door before they arrived.

“That was weird,” Allison thought cast as Scott and Derek entered the room.

“Yes it was,” Scott replied.

“Why would they send someone over just to give us a business card and tell us they’ll contact us later?” asked Jackson.

“I don’t know,” answered Scott, pulling the card from his pocket.

“What does it say?” asked Derek, his large presence suddenly looming over Scott’s shoulder.

“Kate Wagner, D.A.” Scott read off the card.

“It’s a warning,” John stated matter-of-factly.

“What?” asked Scott.

“If she’s a D.A., she has access to the police database and influence with the police department. And, if they have her, there’s no telling who else is under their control,” John answered. “They’re telling us that there’s nowhere we can hide, because they’re everywhere.”

“This is bad,” Erica replied, her voice quavering with fear. “What are we going to do?”

“There’s an address on it,” Scott said. “Probably the address to her office.” He looked up at the others. “We could check it out.”

“No!” exclaimed Melissa. “The only person that would have been even remotely safe for is Stiles, and Stiles is not here. This is probably why she gave us the card in the first place, to see if we would actually go there, where they can ambush us! There is no way they could be holding Stiles at the D.A.’s office.”

“They could be holding him at the police station on some trumped up charge!” Derek speculated loudly, his eyes wide.

“Derek, no!” Allison said, quickly grabbing his shoulders. “Look at me! You are not running off again on some crazy suicide mission! He is not at the police station. They can’t just put some unconscious guy in there like that who obviously needs medical attention. They have policies and procedures and stuff so they won’t get sued. Think about it! We still can’t get through to him. That means he’s still not awake, which means he is not at the police station. He’s somewhere else, and we all have to stay calm until we can figure out where that is.”

Derek’s breathing was fast and heavy, but it began to slow and he let Allison push him down into one of the chairs.

“I still think we should try to get a look at this place,” Scott said.

“Scott!” Allison exclaimed, exasperated. “Somehow, some way, those things are keeping an eye on us, and if you think that you can just sneak by them without them noticing, then you are crazy!”

“Just listen, I think I have an idea,” he insisted. “These new bodies of ours, they’re pretty tough, right?” he asked, expecting one of the aliens to answer.

“Of course they are,” Melissa replied, sounding almost as irritated as Allison. “What's your point?”

“Well, when I was chasing Violet, I landed on concrete from the second floor, and it didn’t even faze me. It felt like I only fell one or two feet.” He paused, knowing how the others would react to what he was about to say. “I bet I could jump to the ground from up here and be fine.”

“What?!” Allison thought cast with a scream. “No! You are not jumping out of a fourth-story window! Have you lost your mind?!”

“Scott, that’s crazy!” Melissa said.

Derek stood up and everyone went silent. “He’s my boyfriend. If anyone is jumping out of a window, it’s going to be me.”

“Hey!” Lydia exclaimed. “Isaac is our brother! Erica and I have just as much of a stake in this as you do, if not more!”

“Hold it!” Scott yelled, stretching out his arms at everyone. “This isn’t helping! We’re not gonna accomplish anything by arguing! Look at what they’ve done! All they did was give us a business card and already we’re at each other’s throats! We need to stay calm and come up with a plan.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment until Allison finally broke the silence. “Lydia,” she began, “you know more about everything than anyone else, probably more than everyone in the world combined. Is what Scott saying possible? Can he make it safely to the ground by jumping out of a window from all the way up here?”

“Well, this is all just speculation,” Lydia replied. “We have no actual data on how bonding with us affects human tissues. We never even conducted experiments like this with our original host bodies back home; it was just too dangerous. But, there were reports of people accidentally falling from high places or out of aircraft and walking away without injury. You may not be familiar with them, but there are stories of these types of things happening to normal human beings, too. The human body is actually quite durable. With the enhancements you have gained from bonding with us, it’s entirely possible that a fall from this height would cause no more injury than falling at ground level. It certainly won’t kill him; that’s for certain. And, if he does sustain any injuries, they’ll be healed within a day.

“Come to think of it,” Lydia added, “If Scott’s going, I’m going.”

“Um, excuse me? Don’t I get a choice in this?” Jackson asked. “We are four stories high! Why can’t we just sneak out off one of windows from the first floor?”

Scott shook his head. “We can’t. These things are smart; they’ll be watching for that. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve set traps for us down there; that’s what I would do.”

“Jackson, he’s my brother and I’m the oldest,” Lydia said. “It’s my responsibility to make sure he’s safe.”

Jackson thought about what she was saying. If his little sister was in the same situation, he would do the same thing. 

“If I could interject,” John said, making a sound similar to a throat being cleared. “I believe it is actually _my_ responsibility to keep you all safe.”

Scott stood up with his hands on the table. “We can’t all go. Someone has to stay behind and keep an eye on these two,” he said, gesturing at Violet and Gerard.

Allison raised her hand. “I don’t have a problem staying here.” 

Erica was torn, so she let Allison make the decision for them both.

“Well, I don’t like the idea of you staying here by yourself,” Scott replied. He looked up at Derek and Jackson. “If you two are sure about this, then Allison and I can stay behind to create a diversion.”

“Wait a minute,” Jackson said, holding out his hands in front of him. “I never said I was gonna jump out the window.”

Putting his hands on his hips, Scott smirked. “You know as well as I do that if Lydia wants you to do something, you’re gonna do it.”

Jackson sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he would be shortly plummeting to the earth from a window four stories high. 

“Unless either of you has already come up with some kind of brilliant plan and is holding out on us, this should be reconnaissance only,” Scott instructed. “Get over there, figure out the layout and come back. No heroics, especially you, Derek.” 

Scott chewed on his bottom lip as he looked at their two hostages. He looked back at the others. “If you see Stiles, we’ll try to figure something out, even if that means leaving these two behind. Getting Stiles back is more important than holding on to them. We’re stronger and faster than they are, even if there are more of them. And, we can do things that they can’t. Hopefully that will swing things in our favor, even if we don’t have a plan.”

“What are you two gonna do?” thought cast Derek.

“I don’t know, make a lot of noise downstairs in the lobby?” Scott answered. “That should draw their attention away from the back of the building, just in case they’re watching.” He turned to Jackson. “Can you and Lydia do a quick scan of the surrounding area and see if you can find anything?”

Jackson nodded slightly as he sent his consciousness out east and north. Lydia began her search to the west and the south.

“What are we going to do for a distraction?” Allison asked after completing a sweep of her own. She and Erica had not picked up any kind of emotion near the building, alien or otherwise.

“I was thinking smoke, maybe?” Scott said, scratching the back of his head. “We could set something on fire. But, that might not be a good idea; we don’t want the fire department to show up. Hmm,” he said, rubbing his chin.

They were all quiet for a moment as they tried to figure out something that would draw the attention of anyone watching them, but would not cause anyone to call emergency personnel. Allison was pacing the room as she thought, and found herself in front of the door when an idea came to her.

“I know!” Allison thought cast directly into Derek’s mind, startling him. “Watch us,” she continued, making sure that only Derek and Jackson could hear. “You’ll know when to go.”

Deliberately keeping her thoughts to herself, she shoved the mattresses out of the way and ran out of the room, continuing down the hallway as fast a she could.

“Hey! Wait!” Scott yelled, bolting after her. “What are you doing!? Allison!”

The door to the stairwell crashed against the wall as she rushed through it, and she took the stairs three at a time to try to put some distance between herself and Scott. She could hear his thoughts, wondering what kind of crazy idea she had gotten into her head, and she could feel his questions brushing up against her mind, but she pushed them aside. They both ran down the stairs at breakneck speed, though they might have been two mice for all the noise they made. Rushing through the last door at the bottom of the stairwell, Allison abruptly emerged into the relative brightness of the lobby, and she pressed forward and through the front doors.

Scott was seconds behind her and she was breathing heavily, not from the exertion, but from anxiety for what she was about to do. She took a quick glance around and noticed a low hanging branch on a nearby tree. Not caring who might be watching, she grabbed the branch and ripped it off with inhuman strength and turned to face Scott as he emerged from the building. Carefully sealing away her thoughts, she broke off the leafy end of the branch, leaving her with a hefty four-foot log. She tried to assume a crazed look on her face.

“Allison!” Scott whispered urgently, having given up on trying to thought cast to her, but still wanting to maintain some kind of secrecy. “What are you doing? Just tell me what the plan is so I can help you!”

Lifting up the branch with a scream, she rushed at him with all of the rage that she could muster.

Scott’s eyes went wide with fear as she came at him. He had never seen Allison act like this before. Even in the face of everything that had happened over the last few days, she had remained relatively calm.

“Don’t over-analyze it,” John commanded. “The first thing you need to do is protect yourself. You can figure it all out later.”

“But, I don’t want to hurt her!” Scott yelled as he dove to the side to avoid the swing of the branch.

“You don’t have to hurt her,” John said. “Just make sure she doesn’t hurt you!”

Jackson positioned Violet and Gerard so that they were facing the wall opposite the window. Even though they probably wouldn’t see very much, he hoped they wouldn’t think to try to look behind them as he and Derek leapt from the building. The creatures already knew so much about them, and they had yet to figure out how they were communicating with each other.

Derek was watching the fight between Scott and Allison. If Stiles hadn’t been in danger, he might have found the whole thing amusing. Even now, watching Scott dodge Allison’s attack brought a grim smile to his face.

“I am guessing this is Allison’s idea, ‘cause Scott has no clue what she’s doing,” Jackson thought cast, “but it’s working.”

“Three of the creatures have been drawn to the front of the building to watch,” Lydia reported. “As far as we can tell, they’re the only one’s nearby.”

“All right,” said Derek, as they watched Scott catch the branch when Allison tried to hit him again. “It’s time to go.”

Jackson looked on warily as Derek opened the window and popped out the screen. “Are you sure about this?” Jackson asked, looking slightly panic stricken as Derek straddled the windowsill.

Derek gave Jackson a serious look. “We have to go,” he said, “Allison and Scott can’t keep up the charade forever.” He poked his head out of the window to gauge the distance and then pulled back inside. “I know this is nuts, but Stiles and Isaac need us. We can’t just leave them in the hands of these monsters. God only knows what they’re planning on doing with them.”

“He’s my brother, Jackson,” Lydia said, more matter-of-fact than pleading. “And, Stiles is your friend. We have no choice, and we can’t let Derek and Melissa go alone.”

“I know, I know,” Jackson replied. “Hurry! Just go, already!”

Derek swung his other leg over the windowsill so that he was sitting with his legs hanging outside, and he turned to Jackson. “Ready?”

Jackson’s eyes went wide, but he nodded.

Derek nodded back grimly. “See you at the bottom,” he said, disappearing from the window.


	22. Lunch Break-in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Jackson break into the District Attorney’s office to see if they can find out where Stiles is being held.

Jackson rushed to the window, getting there just in time to see Derek hitting the ground four stories below. Derek tried to do a tuck-and-roll thing he had seen on TV, thinking it would diminish the impact, but having absolutely no experience in gymnastics, acrobatics, or anything like that, he ended up landing face first in the grass. The air rushed from his lungs as his body slammed into the ground, the force of the collision causing him to briefly lose his vision. 

“Derek?!” Jackson thought cast, worried that Derek wouldn’t answer.

“He’s fine,” Melissa replied, as Derek blinked a few times and shook his head, his sight slowly returning. “He just got the wind knock out of him. He’ll be coming around in a minute.”

Taking a few deep breaths, Derek checked to see if he broke anything. Not feeling any pain, he pushed himself up off of the ground and staggered to his feet. He took a few more breaths and then looked up at Jackson. “Jump! I’ll catch you!” he thought cast, lifting up his hands.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Jackson muttered as he positioned himself on the windowsill.

“Don’t close your eyes,” Lydia said, with a slightly mocking tone.

“Ha, ha,” Jackson replied half-heartedly. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and began counting, “One.”

“Two,” Lydia continued.

“Three!” they said together as Jackson pushed himself away from the windowsill. He watched Derek’s small form grow larger and larger as the wind rushed past his face. Try as he might, he was not able to keep his eyes open at the moment of impact. He slowly opened them again when he realized that the sudden smashing of his body into the ground that he was expecting was not going to happen. True to his word, Derek had caught Jackson in his long arms and gently set him on his feet, keeping his hands on Jackson’s shoulders to make sure he wouldn’t to fall over.

Jackson blinked a few times and took a deep breath. “That wasn’t so bad.”

“You okay?” Derek asked.

Jackson nodded, still a little fazed from the adrenaline coursing through his body.

“All right,” Derek said, glancing furtively at the surrounding area. “Let’s go.”

As they ran, they continued to monitor the fight unfolding between Allison and Scott. They watched as Scott grabbed the stick out of Allison’s hands and tossed it to the side. 

“What are you doing?!” Scott yelled out loud, no longer caring if anyone heard him. “Have you lost your mind?”

Suddenly, after the inexplicable silence through the fight, he heard her voice in his head, “I’m gonna to pretend to run away. Grab me from behind and drag me back into the building.”

She turned from him as if to escape, but Scott lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her torso, locking her arms under his. Half-lifting her, he backed towards the lobby doors as she kicked and flailed and grunted. Any sane person watching would probably be calling the police.

“Don’t worry,” she thought cast to him. “There aren’t any regular people watching right now.”

Continuing the act all the way through the lobby and into the stairs, she stopped struggling as soon as the door to the stairwell closed. Scott released her once he sensed that the ruse was over.

“You could have let me in on the plan,” he said.

Allison could feel a touch of amusement breaking through his slightly annoyed facade. “I just thought it would look more real if you didn’t know what was going on.”

“I guess your little one-woman show will at least confuse them,” he replied, laughing a little. “It would be pretty funny to know what they’re thinking right now.”

“Well yeah, that was all part of the plan,” Allison said as she started up the stairs. “Although, to be honest, I didn’t have a lot of time to think about what I was doing. The idea just kind of came to me and I figured the more chaotic I could make it look, the better it would be.”

“We’re gonna be flying blind for a bit while the others are gone,” Scott commented. “At least you’ll know if any of their higher-ups come around.”

Allison nodded as she watched Jackson and Derek darting through cars and bushes, trying to keep a low profile as they made their way downtown. She didn’t like the idea of splitting up the group, but she understood the necessity. As far away as she and Scott were from them now, all they could do was watch, and hope, and pray.

Derek and Jackson ducked between a large hedge and a cinderblock wall when they heard a car turning the corner. 

“We won’t be able to stay out of sight much longer,” Jackson said. “We’re okay out here in the residential areas, but when we get downtown, there won’t be anywhere to hide.”

“I know,” Derek replied. “But, if we just act normal, there shouldn’t be any reason for anyone to take any interest in us. Hopefully, they’ll think we’re still in the apartment. They won’t be expecting us to do something like this.”

“This is crazy,” Jackson said, stepping out from behind the hedge after the car drove past.

Derek ignored him and continued to lead the way.

“I don't know where this place is,” Derek thought cast suddenly. “Can someone show me where I'm going?!”

Jackson rolled his eyes. “Follow me,” he said as Lydia pulled up a map of the city in her mind and thought cast it to Derek. 

“We just need to keep going straight down this road until we hit the main drag, then make a left,” Lydia suggested, highlighting the route for Derek and Jackson to see. “I don’t think I need to remind you that it’s the middle of the day and that the office is probably full of people.”

“Don’t try to get into the building,” Scott said, “Just get a lay of the land and get back here. The last thing we need is for them to get all of you, too.”

Allison didn’t like the bent to Derek’s emotions, and found herself hoping that Melissa, Jackson, and Lydia would be able to keep him under control. She was so used to Derek being the level-headed one, that this new version of him, panicked and scared, unnerved her. She and Scott watched as Jackson and Derek continued to make their way towards the district attorney’s office. Although, she could see everything that they could, her ability to sense emotion was limited to her physical location. Her ability, she thought, unlike Scott’s, was of no use to her friends from such a great distance.

“That’s not true,” countered Erica. “We might not be able to sense the emotions of anyone around them, but we can still sense their emotions. This could be important, especially with Derek. If he starts to lose it, we can let Jackson and Lydia know so that they can deal with it.”

Allison nodded and put all of her energy into sensing any possible change in Derek’s mood, no matter how small. The twinges of fear, the glimmer of hope, the overall anxiety, she didn’t understand how he could be having any kind of coherent thoughts in his head at all. Switching her focus to Jackson, she realized he was as anxious as Derek was, but just like Allison, he and Lydia were also more focused on Derek’s mood rather than the task at hand. Looking at Derek’s face through Jackson’s eyes, she saw the wild twitchiness to his movements, the feral way he crouched behind the bushes. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought he might be on a mission to assassinate someone rather than to rescue his boyfriend.

She felt Scott put his arm around her shoulders. They were standing in front of the window of the apartment, as if they were enjoying the view. What they were actually seeing were the houses, parked cars, and trees swiftly passing by as Derek and Jackson continued on towards the district attorney’s office. As Scott watched, he realized he could do more than just see and hear what they did. He could feel the air rushing over their skin and smell the rich scents of grass and soil rising up from a freshly watered lawn. And, although he was not as attuned to it as Allison and Erica, he was even able to get a general sense of how they were feeling.

Sensing this awe of revelation emanating from him, Allison shifted her focus back into the apartment and looked up at him. She saw the look of wonder on his face and tilted her head quizzically.

“What is it?” she asked. “What are you seeing?”

He pulled his senses back into the apartment as well and looked at her. “I know everything is nuts right now, and we don’t know what’s gonna happen or if we’re even gonna make it through this, but did you ever imagine we would be experiencing anything like this?” 

She looked up at him, her eyebrows scrunched together. “What do you mean?”

Scott smiled and looked down. “We’ve kind of been taking it for granted now that we can see through each other’s eyes and talk to each other without actually speaking out loud,” he said, gesturing with his hands as if they were words coming from his mouth, “But, I just realized that we can even smell what they smell and feel the sensations that they feel, too!”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed that,” she replied, sending her focus back down to their two friends. She settled in on Jackson’s point of view and tried to concentrate on more than just what he could see and hear. After a few moments, she too was able to feel his feet pounding on the pavement, and she could smell lavender wafting into the street from someone’s yard. 

“That’s incredible! Is this what it’s like for all of you, being inside of us?” she asked Erica and John.

“Pretty much,” Erica answered. “Except that we know what you’re thinking. All the time.”

“Yeah,” replied Scott wryly. “I don’t suppose there’s any way of getting around that?”

“Nope,” Erica answered, sounding smug. Allison could feel Erica smiling even if she couldn’t see it.

Derek and Jackson were soon walking along the relatively crowded streets filled with shoppers and college kids hanging out away from campus. According to Lydia’s map, the district attorney’s office would be towards the end.

“There’s a lot of kids from school here!” Jackson whispered harshly to Derek. “Someone’s gonna recognize us. We’re supposed to be dead, remember?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Derek replied. “No one has any reason to think we’re still alive. No one is looking for us except for those things that have Stiles.” 

“That is not a reassuring thought,” Jackson said as he furtively eyed their surroundings.

Derek kept the pace fast, but not fast enough to draw unwanted attention.

“There it is,” he said, nodding towards the large beige office building coming up on the other side of the street. “We can cross over, here,” Derek continued as they approached the intersection.

Jackson tried not to look nervous as they waited for the light to change. “Derek, look, I know how important this is to you; it’s important to all of us, but this is crazy! You know what they can do.”

Derek looked down at Jackson. “I’m not gonna lie to you and tell you that I’m not doing this for selfish reasons, because I am. This is Stiles that we’re talking about! Don’t you remember what he did for us? There is no way I’m gonna let some alien monsters take him away from me!”

“Don’t forget Isaac,” Lydia added. “I am not leaving my brother to these creatures.”

Jackson looked down and nodded as the little green man started glowing to let them know it was safe to cross the street. “I know, I know. Let’s just hurry up and do this.” He jogged a few steps to keep up with Derek’s long strides.

“Where are you going?” Jackson asked. “You know we can’t go in there!”

“I know,” Derek answered. “We’re just gonna walk around a little bit. Maybe we’ll be able to see something through the windows.”

Derek was going to have the advantage on that front because of how tall he was. Jackson could barely see over the windowsills, which seemed to be set higher up than one would normally expect. He wondered if it was for security purposes. At the very least he could scan the minds of the people inside to see if there were any strange thoughts that would help them figure out what was going on. Just as he was about to push his senses out, he felt a hand grab his arm. Derek was pulling him in the opposite direction. 

“What the hell!?” Jackson yelped in surprise. 

“She just walked out of the building,” Derek explained. “Don’t turn around, just keep walking.”

Derek pulled him into an alley and they ducked behind a dumpster. He held his finger in front of his mouth to make sure Jackson wouldn’t say anything. 

Kate’s heels clicked smartly against the sidewalk, and they listened as she walked past the alley without pausing. They remained behind the dumpster until they could no longer hear her steps. After a while, they began to hear others leaving the office.

“Go now!” Melissa said suddenly. “The office is closed for lunch and the last person to leave forgot to lock the door!”

Having both learned to trust Melissa’s premonitions without question, Derek and Jackson jumped from their hiding place and quickly walked back to the front of the office building. Jackson glanced over his shoulder at the people walking by as Derek went up the three steps to the door and boldly pushed it open. Jackson followed Derek inside and the door shut behind them, sealing away the outside noise. 

“Are you guys crazy!?” Scott exclaimed. “What do you think you’re doing? Get out of there!”

Just as Melissa had said, the office was empty. Allison bit her lip as she watched them walk past the front desk.

“There was an opening, and I took it,” Derek replied. “Stiles is in trouble and Melissa’s premonitions are never wrong. We might never get another opportunity like this.”

“Well, hurry up then! And, be careful!” Scott said, breathing heavily. “If they catch you…” he trailed off, not wanting to imagine that particular scenario.

Derek found the door with Kate’s name on it at the end of a short hall. He opened it without hesitation and walked in, with Jackson close behind. Her office was smaller than they expected, but very organized and very clean. 

There was a picture of her and the man they both assumed to be her significant other, framed in silver on her desk, but besides that, there was nothing to suggest that she might have a personal life. Derek pulled out the chair in front of her computer.

“What are you doing?” Jackson whispered out loud.

“You don’t have to whisper; there’s no one here to hear you,” Derek answered back in a normal tone of voice. “Sit down,” he said to Jackson, gesturing at the chair.

“Why?” asked Jackson.

“Because you’re the one with the photographic memory,” Lydia explained. 

Jackson sat down and moved the mouse. The computer screen lit up.

“If you’re able to pull anything up, just look through the documents as fast as the computer will let you,” Lydia instructed. “We can go over what you find more thoroughly when we get back.”

“It’s asking for a password,” Jackson said, pointing at the screen.

“Yes it is,” Derek replied absentmindedly as he tapped his fingers on the top of Kate’s desk and surveyed its clutter-free surface. “She keeps it written down on a Post-It note,” he said, more to himself than anyone else, “but where?” 

He pulled opened the desk drawer and rummaged through Kate’s impressive collection of pens and pencils. Pulling it out as far as it would go, he lowered his head to see if he had missed anything deeper inside. There was nothing there besides the typical assortment of office supplies one would expect to find inside of a desk drawer. He closed it and lifted up the stapler. Nothing. A quick tug confirmed that the file cabinet to his left was locked. He picked up the photograph of Kate and … Bob! Robert Crandle. The name had suddenly come to him, but there was not much else to be gained, so he set the picture back down. 

Not having anything else to go on, he said, “Try ‘Robert’.” 

Jackson typed it in and hit enter, but it was invalid. 

“Try ‘Crandle’,” Derek guessed, but that didn’t work either.

“Maybe you should try a bunch of different words?” Jackson suggested. “Maybe you’ll have a premonition while you’re typing.”

Derek shrugged and was about to switch places with Jackson, when Melissa told him to stop. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said. “This is the district attorney’s office; they probably have security measures in place to prevent someone from breaking into her computer. It’s entirely possible that the files on the computer will be completely locked for a while if you enter a third incorrect password.”

“She’s right,” Lydia said. “I’ve heard of those.”

“What are we gonna do?” asked Jackson.

“We need to keep looking,” Derek replied. “There’s a Post-It with her password on it somewhere in this room, I know there is! We just have to find it.” He pulled open another drawer. “I’ll look on the shelves, you keep looking through her desk. We have maybe fifteen minutes before we need to get out of here, no more than twenty.”

Derek ran his hand over the tops of Kate’s bookshelves to see if there was anything hidden up there before he began looking through the pages of some of the books. He pulled open a drawer and found a business card organizer. He started to flip through it, not expecting to find anything important, when a matte black business card with silver writing suddenly caught his attention. The logo on the front was for The Dark, an upscale nightclub a few blocks down. He gently pulled it out of the plastic pocket and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up when he exposed a Post-It note folded in half behind it.

“I think I found it!” he exclaimed excitedly to Jackson.

“You did?” Jackson replied, turning to him. “Where was it?”

“It was in this,” he answered as he pulled out the small piece of yellow paper out of the organizer. Unfolding it, he revealed an eight-digit alphanumeric sequence. “G6JMB923,” he read out loud as Jackson typed it into the computer. When Jackson hit the enter key, the prompt for the password disappeared and an hourglass appeared to let him know the computer was booting up. 

“You did it!” Derek exclaimed, slapping Jackson on the back. “It is working!”

Jackson wanted to feel excited, but all he felt were his nerves. They had used up precious minutes looking for the password and they had no idea when Kate or the people that worked for her would be returning from lunch.

The desktop background, a standard beach scene, soon replaced the blue and white loading screen, but the hourglass had yet to be replaced by the mouse icon.

“Come on!” Derek urged anxiously. “How old is this thing? Geez! You’d think someone from a space-faring alien race would want some newer technology to work with!”

“She’s probably not really interested in how well she does her job,” Jackson replied. “The whole district attorney thing is just a disguise for her.”

Derek sighed loudly and the arrow icon for the mouse appeared. 

“Finally! Here we go,” Jackson said as he clicked on Kate’s documents folder. He opened a file and started reading what it said.

“Don’t read them,” Lydia instructed. “Open the files, scroll down to the bottom as fast as you can, and then move to the next one. We can read them later when we get back.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Jackson groused, as he began going through the files as quickly as possible.

“Derek,” Lydia began, “Make sure the office looks exactly the same as it did when we came in. I’ll project an image into your head as you go.”

“Okay,” he replied, grabbing the Post-It note, folding it up and putting back into the business card holder. 

Lydia stayed with Derek as he made dozens of tiny adjustments to the various objects they had touched in the short time they had been there, while Jackson visually scanned the documents into his memory.

“I don’t think these are any good for us,” Jackson said. “They’re all case records. I don’t know, we might find something we can use, but I doubt it. I’m gonna try another folder.”

“Make sure you close all of the open files first,” Lydia said. “It won’t matter if we put the room back in order if she knows that someone’s been on her computer.”

Jackson quickly closed all of the open documents and looked over what might be the best folder to open next. The email icon caught his eye, so he clicked on it. In the same manner that he went through the case files, he opened each of the emails, glanced at their contents and then closed them before moving on to the next. Most were just a few lines, but some had documents attached that needed to be opened. Luckily, it looked like she never deleted anything out of her inbox.

“You’re starting to get into emails from three days ago,” Lydia said. “Those won’t have what we are looking for right now. Try something else. You probably only have time for one more folder, so choose carefully.”

Closing the email, he glanced back at the list of folders in the documents window. 

“Population charts,” he read out loud. “That doesn’t sound like something the district attorney would have in her computer, does it?”

“She could be working on anything,” Derek replied as he began to fiddle with some of the items on Kate’s desk. “Maybe it’s for one of her cases.”

“Maybe,” Jackson agreed, as he opened the file. “But, it doesn’t make sense that is has a folder all by itself.” 

Inside of the folder were a dozen or so spreadsheets. Jackson opened them all as fast as he could, allowing his eyes to rest on each of the documents for less than a second.

“She’s coming back!” Lydia warned. “Hurry, she’s only a block away!”

Jackson closed all of the spreadsheets and put the computer to sleep as fast as he could and then quickly returned her desk back to the condition in which they found it. 

“Will she see us if we go out the front?” asked Melissa.

“She won’t, but we need to leave now!” urged Lydia.

Derek bolted out of the room and down the short hall with Jackson right behind him. He slowed down when he got to the front door and calmly walked out, holding the door open for Jackson. Derek let the door close and they both went down the steps and began walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction from where Kate was coming from. Derek put his hands in his pockets in an attempt to look more relaxed. Jackson tried to keep his breathing even, doing his best to look like a person who had not just broken into the district attorney’s office.

Behind them, they both heard Kate gasp slightly as she grabbed the doorknob and realized that it was unlocked. She grumbled something under her breath about someone forgetting to lock the door, and Allison felt Derek and Jackson’s anxiety levels rise sharply before Kate walked into the office, closing the door behind her.

“We’re in the clear,” Melissa announced. 

“All right you two, try to keep out of sight,” Scott said. “We’ll figure out our next move after we look over the documents you found.”

Derek nodded grimly, turned right at the next intersection and began walking down a side street. Jackson gave him a worried look, but knew better than to say anything.


	23. Depopulation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang is searching desperately for Stiles. Meanwhile, Stiles wakes up in a strange place, and Isaac is nowhere to be found.

Jackson was sitting at a bench with his head in his hands. Even from across the city, Allison could feel waves of determination emanating from him, which was manifesting physically as a slight grimace on his face. Derek stood with his arms crossed as Jackson and Lydia used their photographic memories to look through the documents that Jackson had pulled up on Kate’s computer. 

The others were free to watch their progress, but the speed at which they were going through the documents was giving Allison a headache, and she instead turned her attention to the window, scanning for any traces of emotions she could find. Derek, on the other hand, was watching their progress with rapt attention, although Allison could tell by his irritation that he was not able to keep up with them any better than she was. Like her, Scott watched with interest, but simply observed, knowing he wouldn’t have any more luck keep up with Jackson and Lydia than the others.

Lydia had quickly gone through several case files and found nothing relevant to their situation. Jackson was looking through the emails, but having much less experience at this sort of thing, was not able to review the documents as quickly as Lydia was able to. Lydia helped with the remaining emails, and while they found some things that might be of interest later, there was nothing that seemed to be helpful in locating Stiles.

All that remained were the strange spreadsheets, which they began looking at together. Going over these documents was a painstaking process because of the amount of data they contained. There were long lists of numbers, color-coded graphs and charts, none of it labeled in any way that made sense to any of them.

“I can’t make heads or tails of this,” Jackson said finally.

“There appears to be some kind of logical sequence to the numbers,” Lydia commented, “but there’s no indication as to what the numbers might actually represent. If I had to guess, I’d guess they kept the records this way to prevent outsiders from understanding what they were looking at.”

“Yeah, what she said,” Jackson replied, frustrated with their lack of progress. 

“We’re gonna need everyone’s help on this,” Lydia thought cast out to all of them. “These spreadsheets look important, but we’re having a really hard time figuring them out.”

Allison closed her eyes and joined the others in examining the spreadsheet that Lydia was holding as an image in her mind for them to see. It had columns filled with numbers, hundreds of rows long. The first column of each page was identical to the first column on every other page.

“How many columns are there?” asked Allison.

“One thousand three hundred forty-six,” Jackson answered.

“Including the first column on each page?” asked Scott.

“No,” Lydia answered.

“This is kind of overwhelming,” Allison said. “I know you two can remember and analyze everything that you’ve ever seen, but the rest of us can’t. It’ll take us forever to look at all of these numbers, especially since the only pattern I can see right now is that the first column on each page is the same.”

“Yeah, could we maybe start with a different one?” suggested Scott. “This one is giving me a headache.”

Lydia removed that one from view and displayed another that was comprised of a single page. Each of the numbers on this spreadsheet was accompanied by a different currency symbol, depending on which column it was in. 

“This one seems kind of obvious, but I wanted to get your opinions on it,” Lydia said. “My guess is that these are some kind of banking records, maybe to keep track of how much money they have. The first three are in dollars, then a column in Euros, then Yen, and so on.”

“Sounds like a good guess to me,” replied Erica. “But, what about these numbers at the top? Every column starts with two numbers at the top that don’t have a currency symbol.” She paused a moment to consider them. “They kind of look like a label.”

“Two numbers,” echoed Allison. “It’s kind of strange, isn’t it? Why would you need two numbers to label each column? The weird part is how they go to two decimal places, like the numbers for the money.” She paused. “They look familiar though,” she said, continuing. “I just can’t seem to put my finger on it. This first column without any currency symbols must be the labels for the rows.”

No one said anything, and after several minutes passed, Derek broke the silence by blurting out, “This is getting us nowhere! They’re just numbers! We can speculate all we want, but we can’t just keep staring at it, hoping for it to make sense!” 

“He’s right,” said Allison. “Let’s come back to this one later; maybe we’ll be able to figure out what it means once we’ve had some time to think about it. Show us another one.”

Jackson pulled up a different spreadsheet.

“Look!” exclaimed Erica. “Those numbers are at the top again! Each column starts with two numbers, each going to two decimal places, then there’s an empty row and then the columns start.”

“No currency symbols this time,” Melissa pointed out.

“Did the first spreadsheet have those numbers at the top?” asked Scott.

“Yes,” Lydia answered.

“The first column on each page is the same,” John added, “just like on the first spreadsheet.”

“Exactly the same, actually,” Jackson commented.

“At least they were consistent,” Derek said sarcastically. Allison could feel his impatience growing.

“The numbers look like they all get bigger as you go down the column,” offered Allison, grasping at anything to try to distract Derek from what he was feeling.

“They do, for the most part,” Lydia confirmed. “We looked at all the numbers, and the general trend is that the numbers keep getting larger, but there’s a couple of places were the numbers get smaller before they start getting bigger again.” She highlighted these numbers for everyone to see. “At the bottom, the numbers stop growing, and in some of the columns, the numbers go down but don’t go back up again.”

“How many columns does this one have?” asked Scott.

“One hundred and nineteen,” Jackson answered.

“What about these later pages?” Melissa asked. “The further back you go, the lower down in the column the numbers start.”

No one said anything for a while.

“I’m pretty sure if we think about it long enough, we can figure out what those numbers at the top mean,” Allison began. “There’s something so familiar about them. Where have I seen them before?” she asked, trailing off as she pondered their possible significance.

Suddenly, Melissa gave them the answer, “They’re coordinates!”

They were all silent for a moment as they let this new idea sink in. Jackson immediately began comparing the numbers to world maps.

“She’s right,” Lydia said as Jackson rapidly found all of the coordinates on the spreadsheet. “She’s absolutely right! Each of these coordinates is for a city. Most of them are in the U.S., but they’re all over the world!”

“So these numbers in the columns must have something to do with what’s happening in those cities,” Allison mused. “There doesn’t seem to be that much of a correlation between the numbers and the cities, except maybe size? Look, here at the bottom, Los Angeles has the number 12 and New York has a 15, but Pittsburgh and New Orleans have the number 4.”

“It’s true,” Lydia replied. “The numbers do, in a general sense, correspond to the relative size of the cities. But, some of the numbers don’t fall into that pattern.” She highlighted Tokyo, which had the number 2 at the bottom of its column. 

“Look at the first column!” exclaimed Erica. “That’s Juliette! It has the biggest number, 18. This town isn’t big at all; it has to mean something!” she insisted.

The others kept looking over the numbers, trying to make sense of them. There was a pattern to the numbers; they could all see that, but they were missing a vital piece of information to unlock its meaning.

“Maybe it has something to do with how important they think the cities are,” John suggested.

“You mean like some kind of value they’ve assigned to them?” Scott asked.

Allison shrugged. “It’s possible, right? Anything’s possible.” 

“I don’t know,” Scott replied, looking over the numbers again. “Washington, D.C. has the number 5. I’d think if they were using the numbers as some kind of value system, D.C. would have a much bigger number.”

“What if this chart shows how many of them there are?” asked Derek.

They all grew quiet, somehow knowing instinctively that Derek had intuited the right answer. 

Scott felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “Is he right?” he thought cast to Melissa.

“I think so,” Melissa answered. “Well, at least I’m not sensing that he’s wrong.” She hesitated. “I’m getting something else, though. I know what they call themselves. They call themselves Kramonites. Kramon is the name of their home world.”

Derek slammed his fist on the park bench, and took a deep breath. According to the spreadsheet, there were hundreds of them spread out all over the planet.

“Oh my God,” Allison gasped, covering her mouth, shaking her head in disbelief. “It’s not possible. It can’t be!” She slowly sank to the floor with her back against the wall, her eyes seemingly fixated on the numbers that no one outside of their group would have been able to see.

“How are we supposed to face them?” Scott asked bluntly. “There’s too many of them.”

“If these numbers at the bottom represent their current population,” Lydia began, “and I’m pretty sure that’s correct, then it explains some other aspects of the chart. The first column of each page must represent the passage of time, and this would explain why on the later pages, the numbers begin lower down in the columns. They colonized those cities at later dates.” She paused to consider the numbers. “At first their population grew quickly, but it seems like that growth has slowly been coming to a halt. In fact, their population seems to be shrinking.”

“So if we wait long enough, then they’ll just die out?” asked Scott.

“Theoretically,” Lydia answered. “But, we have no explanation for why their population is in decline, if that is truly what is happening. And, because we have no explanation for it, who’s to say that the trend won’t just as easily reverse itself? Not to mention the fact that these Kramonites could be actively seeking ways to reverse the trend themselves. I mean, look, they’re tracking of the numbers! Even if nothing changes, at this rate of decline, it could be hundreds of years before they die out completely.”

“None of this helps us find Stiles,” Derek said, angrily.

“We know,” Scott replied, acknowledging him. “But, this is all we have right now.”

Derek breathed out heavily. “Pull up another one.”

Jackson nodded and did as Derek asked.

 

* * *

Stiles’ eyes fluttered open. Squinting at the brightness over his head, he turned to the side. The slight movement triggered a surge of light that rushed up behind his eyes, his skull imploding from what felt like a sledgehammer smashing down on his forehead. His mouth drooped limply. The throbbing faded away, along with the light and his sense of self, a scream of pain dying in his throat before it was born.

 

* * *

Stiles regained consciousness again, the memory of the last time he woke preventing him from opening his eyes. Breathing slowly, he tried to judge through his eyelids how bright the light over his head was. He squinted into it and gradually opened his eyes wider with each slow blink. He was trying to stay calm, but realized that his fists were clenched and that he was holding his breath. Closing his eyes again, he opened his hands, breathed out and took a deep breath in.

He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious, but he did remember how much it hurt the last time he woke up. It seemed like the pain had subsided somewhat and he moved his head gingerly, testing to see what would happen. There was no explosion of light this time. He opened his eyes. There was what looked like an operating room light above him and stainless steel instruments on the counters on either side of him. The room was cold, and he realized that all he was wearing was a hospital gown. If he didn’t know any better, he would have guessed that he was probably in a hospital. 

“Isaac!” he tried to thought cast as loudly as he could.

There was no response. 

“Isaac! Where are you?” he tried again. It didn’t feel like he was thought casting.

He waited. The seconds ticked by, but there was only silence. His heart began to race. Had the aliens that captured him somehow managed to extract Isaac from his mind? He tried to get up, but he couldn’t. His wrists and ankles were tied to the bed, and straps were holding him down across his legs and his chest. He pulled against them, but nothing happened. 

Thinking back to the multiple feats of strength he had performed since bonding with Isaac, the restraints should have posed no problem. Even if Isaac were somehow asleep or unconscious inside of him, he would still have his enhanced abilities, right? Isaac wasn’t talking to him. Was Isaac really gone?

Nervously, he reached out with his mind, trying to contact the others. There was nothing. Maybe, he thought, it didn’t work without Isaac. Trying to calm himself, he took a few breaths, but there was no denying the rising panic he felt in his chest. Without Isaac, he was just a normal guy with normal speed and normal strength. Without Isaac’s strength, there was no way for him to escape or fight off those things that were holding him there, even if he did somehow manage to get the straps off. He wasn’t able to contact the others and he was pretty sure they didn’t know where he was. _He_ didn’t even know where he was. 

The last thing he remembered was fighting off the aliens that had come for them in the apartment building. Someone or something had hit him in the head and everything after that was just a hazy jumble of being carried and bright lights and pain.

There was a metallic taste in his mouth. He was thirsty. He was cold.

Pulling against the restraints again, he quickly realized he was wasting his time, not to mention sapping what little strength he had left. He blinked, squinting against the annoying light over his head. He needed to think. Maybe he could wriggle out of his wrist restraints. He lifted up his hand as high as it would go and arched up his neck. His wrist was bound with the kind of padded leather strap that they used to tie up dangerous mental patients. He assumed that was what was tying down his ankles as well. He couldn’t see that far, but they felt the same. The padding gave him some hope. Perhaps there was enough give that he could manage to slip his hand out. Then again, the restraints were designed to prevent crazy people from escaping, so maybe not. He needed to try.

He tried twisting his hand back and forth, but the strap just moved with his wrist. He tried pressing it against the bed and the side of his body while he did this, but that didn’t really help. In frustration, he began to just pull again, grunting as he bit back angry screams, but after a few seconds, he gave up. He tried looking at it again. This time, the door creaked open.

He quickly put his head back down, his heart racing as the footsteps drew nearer to the table. A face appeared, looking down at him. It was the man who had been watching them from outside the apartment building when the attackers had come, the man they assumed to be the leader of that second group. He was holding a patient chart and smiling warmly.

“You’re awake, I see,” the man said, patting Stiles on the arm.

He had exchanged the trench coat for a white lab coat. Putting the chart on the counter, he began checking Stiles’ restraints.

“Don’t bother trying to get out of these,” he advised, still smiling. “I had Ennis put them on extra tight for you.”

His face appeared above Stiles’ again and he put his hand on Stiles’ shoulder. “We wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself now, would we?”

Stiles tried in vain to jerk his shoulder away. The man laughed softly under his breath. 

“Don’t worry,” he said. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

Stiles lunged at the strange man only to be jerked back by the restraints. 

“Now, now! None of that!” the man said chidingly, wagging his finger in front of Stiles’ face. “Like I said, we don’t want you to hurt yourself.” Stepping away from Stiles, he checked something on the chart and then put it back down.

“This should do it,” he said confidently, picking up a syringe, flicking it with his finger. Stiles struggled against his bindings.

The man came back to Stiles’ side and squeezed a little bit of the contents out to get rid of the air bubbles. He leaned over Stiles.

“This is just something to help you relax,” he said as he gently inserted the needle into Stiles’ arm.

“By the way,” he said, smiling as Stiles’ vision faded out, “my name is Peter, and I’m going to be your doctor today.”

 

* * *

 

Isaac couldn’t concentrate. There was no point in even trying. All of his thoughts were floating around like Jell-O bubbles in a lukewarm soup. The bubbles were fuzzy. The soup was fuzzy. He was floating around in a fuzzy soup and he couldn’t figure out which way was up, or which way was down. Sometimes the bubbles popped and turned into fuzzy clouds. At least clouds are _supposed_ to be fuzzy. 

Where was he? _Who_ he was? He thought he could remember who he was. What are memories anyway, especially to a non-corporeal being? He tried to blink, but remembered he had no eyes. He had a vague memory of running away with his sisters. Why they picked that crazy place to live in for so long he would never understand, but there were two of them and one of him and Lydia was always so bossy because she was older than him. And, Melissa and John always took her side! Boooooo!

Melissa and John. Now, those were two that he hadn’t seen in a while. When his mother finds out that they’ve been neglecting their duties, boy will they get it!

He giggled. Why was that so funny? Everything was funny. He was dizzy again. He decided that life should not be this dizzy. He decided at that very moment that when he grew up, he would order by royal decree that life should definitely not ever be this dizzy. Or, fuzzy. Unless you wanted it to be dizzy and/or fuzzy. He laughed again.

And, where was Stiles! After all of the things he had done for that boy! A bubble popped. One minute he was bonded to Stiles, the next minute, nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing. He repeated the word over and over again to himself in a singsong kind of way. Nothing, nothing, nothing. The song echoed in the soup. It would be nice to be nothing. But then the others might worry. Especially Stiles. 

Stiles?

Stiles. 

Stiles was someone very important. He decided that he very definitely was supposed to know who Stiles was. Very, very important! Yes! He needed to go find Stiles. But, everything was dark and he didn’t know which way to go. Everything was fuzzy. He giggled again. The soup was warm. Whatever it was that he needed to do, it didn’t feel very urgent. Maybe if he waited long enough, Stiles would find him.


	24. Five Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isaac is lost in a fog and hears a strange voice calling out numbers into the mist

Stiles opened his eyes, recoiling immediately at the bright light. Peter was standing over him, looking over his chart. 

“Awake again, I see!” Peter exclaimed with an almost triumphant smile. Putting the chart down on the counter, he continued, “You have an incredibly fast metabolism! Did you know that?”

Stiles didn’t answer.

“That’s okay; you don’t need to say anything,” Peter continued, grinning as he jabbed the chart with his index finger. “It’s all right here in your chart!”

He pulled a small penlight from his shirt pocket and checked Stiles’ eyes. “Even your eyes dilate faster than a normal person’s. Certainly faster than one of ours.” 

The penlight disappeared back into his shirt pocket. 

“You know, I haven’t quite figured it out yet,” he said, in a conversational tone. “There’s something about human physiology or psychology, maybe both, it interferes with our bonding process.”

Sitting down next to Stiles, he grabbed the chart and made some notes in it. He looked back up at Stiles, smiled and patted him on the shoulder with the chart. “Doesn’t seem to be a problem for you, though, does it?”

He grabbed another syringe and heard Stiles’ sharp intake of breath. “Now, I don’t want you to worry; it’s the same thing I gave you last time. Just a sedative to help you sleep.” Inserting the needle into Stiles’ arm, he continued excitedly, “We need to find out what makes you tick. You’re burning off this stuff at an incredible rate! What I need to find out is if there’s any correlation between how much I give you and how long you stay asleep. I’m going to…… chart………… remem……………. un……………….. cos…………………………..”

 

* * *

Stiles opened his eyes, then closed them again when the light hit. His head was throbbing. 

“Thirty-three minutes,” Peter said. “That’s amazing!” He wrote something down on the chart. “A normal person would have been out for at least four hours with the dose I gave you.”

Peter put the chart back on the counter and picked up another syringe. “Let’s see how long you stay out this time.”

“No!” Stiles gasped, struggling against his restraints.

“Now calm down,” Peter replied, inserting the needle into Stiles’ arm. “There’s nothing you can do about it, so you might as well just go along with it. Just be glad this stuff doesn’t hurt.”

He gently pulled the needle out and gave Stiles a concerned look. “It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

Stiles glared up at Peter’s face, which was slowly fading from view, with no intention of answering.

* * *

Stiles opened his eyes. He was prepared for the light this time and didn’t flinch at its brightness. Peter was standing at the counter with his back turned to him and had not yet noticed that Stiles was awake. Stiles closed his eyes again and pretended to be asleep.

The door opened and he heard the footsteps of a much lighter person walk in.

“Oh good, I was waiting for you,” he heard Peter say to the newcomer. “Here are the samples of his blood, hair and saliva. Would you have them analyzed for me, downstairs?”

There was a pause.

“Can he hear us?” a female voice responded, deep with a slight rasp.

“Oh him?” Peter replied. “No, nothing to worry about. According to my calculations, he won’t be waking up for another ten minutes or so. You want to be here to see him wake up?” 

It seemed to Stiles that she was thinking about the idea. “Sure, why not,” she finally answered, “should be interesting.”

He heard her walk away, the door shutting behind her. Peter went back to whatever it was he was doing at the counter. He said Stiles wasn’t supposed to wake up for another ten minutes. That didn’t leave him a lot of time. Peter had also said that Stiles had a fast metabolism. Didn’t that mean that Isaac was still inside of him? Why wasn’t Isaac talking?

“Isaac!” he thought cast, imagining that he was yelling as loud as he could. 

Isaac didn’t respond. From what Stiles could tell, Peter didn’t know that Isaac existed. Actually, Stiles mused, it would probably be more accurate to say that Peter didn’t know that Stiles existed. It was becoming increasingly apparent that Peter had assumed that the person he had been interacting with was a non-human life form that had taken over Stiles’ body. Since that’s what Peter and his kind did, he probably assumed that it worked same way for Stiles and his friends.

But, if Peter thought that he was talking to Isaac, then he obviously hadn't removed Isaac from Stiles’ body. Where was he? Was Isaac asleep? That didn’t make any sense! How could Isaac have been asleep all of this time? And, even if Isaac was asleep, if Isaac was still inside of him, then he shouldn’t be having any problems ripping through the restraints. It must be the drugs, he thought. The drugs were interfering with the bond somehow.

He heard Peter walk to the door and then leave. Stiles slowly opened one eye, just wide enough for him to see. He tried to look around as best he could without moving and determined that there was no one else in the room with him. Hardly daring to breathe, he opened his eyes all the way and quickly scanned the room without moving his head, just to make sure that the room was completely empty. 

Quickly turning to the side, he arched his neck up to see what Peter had been working on. As he feared, there were four more syringes lying in a neat row, ready to have their contents injected into him. He put his head back down. He really didn’t want to continue with Peter’s experiments in seeing how long the drugs would make him sleep, and he didn’t want to think about what experiments would be coming next.

Ten minutes. He had ten minutes to try to establish contact with Isaac and try to get himself out of this situation. Even if Peter and the woman came back before then, he could pretend to be asleep. That would perhaps buy him another five minutes before they would start to think that something had gone wrong.

Not really sure of what to do, he tried to remember what it was like when they had gone into Braeden’s mind to rescue her from the alien that had taken over her body. He tried sinking inside of himself, like when they were going into Braeden’s subconscious, but the more he withdrew from the outside world, the more drowsy he got. He could still feel the effects of the drugs that had not yet been completely eliminated from his body. It took most of his concentration just to stay awake.

“Isaac!” he thought, imagining his voice loudly echoing inside of his body as if it was an empty shell.

He sank deeper within himself, sending out his thoughts like probes into the recesses of his mind, aware that with each second that passed, his chances of finding Isaac diminished and the threat of Peter returning grew.

 

* * *

Isaac was swimming through the soup, an interesting feat seeing as how he had neither arms nor legs. He let his consciousness be carried around by the currents of whatever it was that he was swimming in, like a jellyfish with almost no control over its destination. He liked that. Whatever happened could not possibly be his fault; it would be the soup’s fault. No responsibilities, no worries, just him, and the soup and the fuzzy Jell-O bubbles. What more could he possibly need?

There was just that one thing that kept nagging him. No matter how much he tried to forget about it, he kept thinking that he was forgetting something. He was supposed to be looking for something, something important, but he couldn’t remember what. Well, he thought, it must not be that important if he couldn’t even remember what it was. He laughed and swam in a big loop; at least it was what he thought might have approximated a loop if he were truly in fact swimming. The actual shape of it wasn’t as important as the fact that it was just fun. _Fun_ was important.

But, he couldn’t stop thinking about that thing he needed to do, what he needed to find. But, how was he supposed to find it if he couldn’t even remember what it was? What was he supposed to be looking for? And, what was that annoying high pitched sibilance he kept hearing?! It sounded like a leaky tire!

He swam towards the noise, but after a while it seemed to be coming from everywhere. It kept getting louder and louder, and strangely more and more insistent, as if the noise was actually trying to accomplish something. It was pulsing, like a blip on a sonar screen, but instead of beeping it was more of a hissing. It sounded like someone was saying the numbers “five six.”

_Five six! Five six! Five six! Five six! ___

_Was “five six” supposed to mean something? He thought he remembered something about the numbers five and six. He laughed. Jackson was 5’6”. He always seemed to be annoyed at being a little bit shorter than the rest of them. Actually, he seemed to be annoyed most of the time. Wait, Jackson? Jackson! He remembered Jackson! Did he remember Jackson? Yes! He remembered Jackson! Jackson was a bratty little rich kid! Underneath the douchiness was a vulnerable interior, and if he was being honest, Jackson made him laugh. He liked Jackson. Where was Jackson? Come to think of it, he’d been alone for a long time now. Where _was_ everybody?_

__FIVE SIX! FIVE SIX! FIVE SIX! FIVE SIX!_ _

_The hissing was getting louder. And, more annoying. How was he supposed to concentrate with all that noise? If he could find it, maybe he could figure out how to make it stop._

__FIVE SIX! FIVE SIX! I’VE SICK! ____

__Did it just say, “I’ve sick?” Was he hearing things now?_ _

___I’VE SICK! I SICK! I SICK!_ _ _

__Isaac paused. The sound was changing. He tried to concentrate on where it was coming from._ _

___I ZICK! I ZICK! I ZICK!_ _ _

__Isaac started to get worried. There was something familiar about the sound, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. He was having trouble remembering anything at all lately. The noise, whatever it was, sounded more like a voice now. He recognized it. He knew that voice! Why couldn’t he remember whose voice it was? Why was he hearing voices at all? Was he going crazy? If he wasn’t already, the incessant hissing voice was going to _drive_ him crazy!_ _

___I ZICK! I ZICK! ISAAC!_ _ _

__Was his that name? Was the voice saying his name? No. It wasn’t saying it. It was shouting it! The voice was shouting his name! The voice wasn’t happy._ _

___ISAAC! ISAAC! ISAAC!_ _ _

__“What?!” Isaac answered back as loud as he could. “What is it?! What do you want?!”_ _

__“ISAAC! ISAAC! ISAAC!” the voice continued, as if he had said nothing._ _

__He needed to get closer. He needed to find out where it was coming from._ _

__“ISAAC! ISAAC! ISAAC!”_ _

__Wait a minute! He knew that voice! It was Stiles!_ _

__“Stiles!” he screamed. “Stiles! I’m over here!”_ _

__“ISAAC! ISAAC! ISAAC!”_ _

__He was starting to remember. He was bonded to Stiles. Was Stiles in trouble? What was going on? He should have been able to see everything that Stiles saw, hear everything that Stiles heard. He should be inside of Stiles’ head; he should know what Stiles was thinking right now! Instead he was in some kind of fog, cut off from everything. Everything, except for that voice. Stiles’ voice! What was going on here? Why couldn’t he think straight? He had to get to Stiles._ _

__“Stiles! Stiles! I’m here!” he yelled. “Where are you?!”_ _

__He tried to push through the fog, and suddenly, he was reminded of when they had to rescue Braeden._ _

___Damn it! Where is he? It didn’t take this long to find Braeden, did it?_ _ _

__He could hear Stiles’ thoughts!_ _

__“Stiles!”_ _

__“Isaac?! Isaac! Is that you?!” Stiles asked, sounding as if he were in a panic._ _

__“Yes!” he answered, as a wave of relief and giddiness washed over him._ _

__“Isaac! Where have you been?! We only have like two minutes left!” Stiles exclaimed._ _

__“Two minutes for what?” Isaac asked, still having trouble breaking out of his stupor. He was having a difficult time paying attention, but Stiles was his friend, and he was definitely going to try._ _

__Stiles could sense that Isaac was not comprehending the seriousness of their situation. “Isaac! Snap out of it! What’s wrong with you?” Stiles demanded. Finding Isaac had not been the Godsend he had expected it to be._ _

__With each passing moment, Isaac’s bond to Stiles was reestablishing itself. Isaac’s thoughts were becoming clearer and Stiles could feel the strength of their bond beginning to course its way through his body. Isaac was able to finally detect the drugs in Stiles’ body, the body they now shared. The drugs were somehow interfering with their connection. He focused on the remaining traces of the medication and ramped up Stiles’ metabolism to burn the last of it away. With the drugs gone, all of his memories came flooding back to him, and he vividly remembered the attack on the apartment building when they were captured._ _

__“Where are we?” he asked Stiles._ _

__Sensing his enhanced strength returning to him, Stiles yanked his arms upwards, ripping his restraints from the bed. “They have us inside of some kind of medical facility,” he answered, pulling off the straps on his chest. “My guess is we have about one minute before the ‘doctor’ comes back.”_ _

__“Doctor?” Isaac asked._ _

__“One of _them_ ,” Stiles replied, ripping the straps off of his legs. He kicked to break the ankle restraints. “Inside of a doctor’ body. I tried to contact the others earlier, but I couldn’t. Maybe we can do it now?”_ _

__Isaac quickly thought cast out to his sister, “Lydia!”_ _

__“Isaac!” she answered immediately. “Where have you been! Is Stiles with you? Are you all right?”_ _

__“Stiles!” Derek’s voice cried out. “Stiles, where are you?! Are you okay?”_ _

__“Stiles?” Scott said, sound both relieved and panicked._ _

__“Oh thank God!” Allison added. “Can you tell us where you are?”_ _

__“I’m fine!” Stiles answered the cacophony of voices. “We’re fine, but I don’t know how much longer we’re gonna stay that way. They have us in some kind of medical office and I know at least two of them are gonna walk through this door any second now.”_ _

__Lydia got a fix on their location and before anyone could tell him not to, Derek jumped up from the picnic bench where he and Jackson had been sitting. Faced with the choice of being alone or following, Jackson quickly chased after him. It was also what Lydia wanted him to do._ _

__Scott turned to face Allison. “We have to go,” he insisted. “We have to help Stiles.”_ _

__Allison glanced at Violet and Gerard. As usual, Violet was glaring at her, but the professor was asleep._ _

__“So, do we just leave them?” she asked._ _

__Scott looked at their two hostages, and took a quick breath, shaking his head. “As long as we get Stiles and Isaac back and don’t lose anyone else, I don’t really care what happens to them.”_ _

__She felt his mood grow dark. “You can’t kill them,” she thought cast, almost pleading._ _

__“Are you suggesting we just let them go?” Scott asked, surprised. “Can you imagine the damage they could do to us? Who knows what they’ve learned while they’ve been here! They’ve been watching us for days. They know how we act around each other and I’m sure they’ve figured out something about how we communicate, too. If they’ve somehow managed to figure out that we’re still the same people that we were before the bonding, that we’re not like them, can you imagine how they’d use that against us? If they know that we’re still _us_ , that our bodies weren’t just taken over, then our families will be in danger. All of our friends, anyone that we’ve ever known or cared about will be put at risk.” He glanced at Violet who immediately narrowed her gaze._ _

__“Look at her,” he said._ _

__Allison turned, her gaze much softer than Scott’s. She almost felt embarrassed for Violet, being examined like that. Violet’s eyes darted back and forth between them._ _

__“She’s an animal, Allison. She’s a monster. She’s not even human anymore. That part of her is dead and you’re looking at the thing that killed her.”_ _

__Allison put her hand on Scott’s arm. “Just because they’re killers doesn’t mean that we have to be.” She turned to look at Violet again. Her motive in dissuading Scott was not mercy; she felt nothing but revulsion for the monster disguised as a human girl. She just couldn’t bear the thought of Scott doing something that she knew he would eventually come to regret, something that might change him forever._ _

__“Fine,” he said, relenting. “We’ll leave them here. After we rescue Stiles, we can come back and get them and figure out what to do later.”_ _

__“Okay,” Allison replied, nodding. “I’ll take Violet into the other room. We should probably keep them separated, just in case.”_ _

__Violet looked alarmed when she saw Allison walking towards her, but her expression changed to a sneer when Allison picked up her chair from behind and began carrying her to the adjacent room._ _

__Violet tried to mumble something against the duct tape covering her mouth, but Allison ignored her. Setting Violet down facing the wall, Allison ran back out of the room and closed the door behind her. She returned to find Scott closing the closet door and noticed that the professor was missing._ _

__“You put him in the closet?” she asked._ _

__“Yeah,” Scott answered, “I didn’t wanna just leave him out here in the open. Are you ready?”_ _

__“I’m am if you are,” she replied._ _

__They walked to the window hand-in-hand, and poked their heads out to look at the ground below. They had both seen Derek and Jackson survive the fall, but that didn’t make the distance to the ground any less intimidating._ _

__“How about if I go first, and then you can follow and I’ll catch you?” Scott asked._ _

__Allison shook her head. “No, we need to hurry. Stiles needs us now. Let’s just do this.”_ _

__“All right,” Scott said, straddling the window ledge. He lifted his other leg over and was sitting with his feet outside. Ducking a little, he sat on the ledge and looked down, with almost his entire body outside of the building._ _

__“I can’t believe we’re really doing this,” he said, his voice quavering slightly._ _

__Allison squeezed in next to him and they were soon sitting side by side. “Wow,” she said, looking at the ground. “That’s really far.”_ _

__“Okay,” Scott began. “On the count of three.”_ _

__Allison held onto his hand as tightly as she could._ _

__“One,” he continued. “Two. Three!”_ _

__They both pushed themselves off of the windowsill and were soon dropping faster than Allison would have thought possible. She felt her stomach tighten and she couldn’t tell if it was her fear that was causing it or Erica’s. Suddenly, she felt Scott jerk her hand upwards and let go. For a split second, she was moving up instead of down, while Scott continued to plummet towards the ground._ _

__Almost too stunned to ask what he was doing, she gasped when he thought cast into her mind a rough outline of John’s plan._ _

__“This better work,” he said to John, as he angled his body towards the small oak tree below._ _

__He grabbed onto a large branch, which broke as expected, but slowed him down enough so that his feet could find purchase on the branch below. Allowing the force of the fall to bring his body down into a squat, he shot out like a spring through the leaves of the tree towards Allison. Catching her in midair, they both continued to fall to the ground, and he landed with Allison in his arms._ _

__“That wasn’t so bad,” she commented shakily as he set her on her feet._ _

__“You all right?” Scott asked._ _

__Allison nodded._ _

__“Good,” he replied, grabbing her hand. “Let’s go.”_ _


	25. Please Have a Seat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Isaac are finally reunited with the rest of the gang, but Kate is determined to stop them from leaving alive.

Stiles looked desperately around the room as footsteps approached from the other side of the door. He noticed his clothes folded neatly on a chair, but decided that finding something he could defend himself with was currently more important than getting dressed. Grabbing a nearby I.V. stand, he quickly twisted the pole off the base. 

“They’re coming!” Isaac yelled as the handle on the door began to move.

Stiles quickly removed the hooks from the top of the stand, leaving him with a long sturdy pole. Glancing around the room again to get his bearings, he decided to stand in the center, which would allow him enough room to maneuver his makeshift weapon.

“He should be waking up any minute now,” Peter said to whoever was behind him as he opened the door. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already…” he continued, trailing off when he noticed Stiles standing in the middle of the room.

“Oh,” he said, surprised as the woman behind him peeked over his shoulder.

Her eyes narrowed. “Take care of this!” she ordered, shoving Peter into the room.

“What?!” Peter blurted out, stumbling.

“That’s Kate!” Erica cried out as the redheaded woman closed the door, her high heels clicking rapidly down the hall. 

“Who’s Kate?” Stiles asked frantically.

John answered, “She came to us after you were taken. They want us to trade Violet and Gerard for you. She’s probably on her way to get reinforcements.” 

“Stiles!” Derek yelled, “Get rid of that guy and get out of there before she comes back!”

Stiles watched as everything around him went into slow motion. He felt the familiar tingling sensation telling him that Isaac was speeding him up, making everything else seem to slow down. Peter froze in front of him. Stiles stepped forward, swinging the pole like a baseball bat, catching Peter in the side and lifting him off the ground. Isaac brought Stiles back to normal speed and they watched as Peter crashed into the cabinets and crumpled into a heap on the floor.

“Grab your clothes,” Isaac advised. “You can’t run around in a hospital gown. It’ll draw too much attention.” 

Stiles dropped the pole and pulled his pants on. He ripped the hospital gown off and was pulling his T-shirt over his head when he heard footsteps running towards him.

“That sounds like four, maybe five people,” John announced.

Isaac sped him up again and the footsteps slowly came to a stop. Stiles opened the door. In the narrow hallway, there were three large male orderlies and a female nurse, with Kate behind them, all frozen in mid-stride. There was no way he was going to be able to sneak around them. 

“You’re gonna have to go through them,” Isaac said. 

Stiles ran towards them as fast as he could, shoving them to either side as he passed. He came to another hallway and looked down either direction. There was no one else there.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“It looks like a hospital,” Isaac answered. “But, where is everybody?”

Stiles looked at one of the doors. Room 301. “We’re on the third floor,” he said, thinking out loud. “We need to find the stairs.”

Isaac brought him back to normal speed as he ran down the hall. The people that he had shoved his way through yelled in surprise as they crashed to the floor. He could hear their grunts of confusion and anger as they untangled themselves from each other, trying to figure out what happened.

“Get in there and grab that kid!” he heard Kate shrieking as he continued to run. 

It wouldn’t take long for them to see that he was no longer in the room and figure out that he was somehow behind what had happened to them in the hallway. Seeing an exit sign in the distance, he made a run for it.

 

* * *

Derek was running as fast as it was possible for a human being to run. Only, he had been running that fast for over five city blocks and Jackson was reluctantly following at roughly the same pace. Jackson tried to reassure himself by thinking about a psychology class he had taken and how denial was one of the strongest responses that people had to a situation that they did not fully understand. Hopefully, anyone that saw them would not be able to observe them for long enough to realize that their pace was simply too fast. And if they did, Jackson hoped that they would somehow convince themselves that the two people they saw were not actually running as fast as they thought they were.

They were able watch Stiles’ actions as long as Isaac was not enhancing his speed beyond their ability to do so. Stiles was currently making his way down the stairwell. Derek and Jackson were still almost three blocks away. 

Jackson didn’t bother asking Derek to slow down. He knew it would be pointless, and he just hoped that they wouldn’t be completely exhausted by the time they got there. He tried to ignore the stares they were drawing. Imagining what they must look like to the people they passed, he supposed it might seem like he was chasing Derek. Although, anyone thinking that would probably follow that thought with a question of why someone Derek’s size would be running away from someone as small as Jackson.

Another block whizzed by and the building where Stiles was being held came into view. It was a nondescript brown office building, three stories tall, in the industrial part of town. He figured they would arrive in less than ten seconds. 

Stiles was now at the bottom of the stairwell, peeking out from behind the door. Not seeing anyone, he snuck out into the hallway, easing the door closed so that it wouldn’t make any noise. 

“This doesn’t look like a hospital,” he whispered, confused.

“They might have set that whole floor up just for you,” Isaac guessed. 

There were no windows visible from where he was standing. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen any windows when he was on the third floor, either. He had no way to get his bearings and had no idea which direction he should go. Hearing a noise behind him in the stairwell, he dodged to the right. 

Derek and Jackson ran into the building’s parking lot, taking note of how few cars were there. They got to the front door, but it was locked. Without any hesitation, Derek yanked on the handle and pulled. Grunting, he broke the lock and wrenched the door open. He ran into the building and Jackson followed. Now that Stiles was awake, Lydia’s ability allowed them to track down Stiles’ location as if he were wearing a homing beacon. 

They found themselves in a small lobby. There was hallway leading into the building in front of them, and to the right there was empty receptionist’s desk. Except for the glass door they had come through, there was no way to see outside. Derek ran into the narrow wood-paneled hallway. It was well lit and they could see the end of it in the distance. There were no doors immediately visible, but several breaks along both walls suggested that other hallways intersected it along the way.

Like a dog on a scent, Derek unwaveringly led Jackson down hallway after hallway. Jackson knew Derek had only one thing on his mind, to find Stiles, so it was up to Jackson to be aware of their surroundings. He noticed after they left the main hall that they began to pass more doors, most closed, but some open. Through the open ones, he mostly saw what looked like offices, but a few conference rooms, as well. They had yet to encounter any another people. From the initial scans that he and Lydia had done of the building, the only other people in there besides Stiles and the small group chasing him were on the third floor. But, they had very little knowledge of what the Kramonites were like and what the full extent of their abilities were, so he wasn’t willing to let his guard down based on that information alone.

Stiles was on the other side of the building, and now that his friends had arrived, he had some idea of which direction to go. The layout of the building was almost mazelike, and Jackson thought about how difficult it would be to find their way back out without his and Lydia’s ability to remember the route. He wondered if the Kramonites had designed the building that way on purpose.

“I’m sure they did,” Lydia said, answering his unspoken thoughts. “Evil bastards. Stiles and Isaac should be just ahead.”

Derek turned another corner and saw Stiles at the other end of the hall.

“Stiles!” he screamed and he barreled towards him.

“Derek! Stiles yelled back as he ran, closing the distance faster than Jackson would have thought possible.

They met in the middle of the hallway, Derek scooping Stiles up in his huge arms, squeezing him close. Stiles hugged him back, not wanting to let go, but he knew Kate and the others weren’t far behind.

Picking up his stray thoughts, Lydia did a quick scan of the building. “Yes, they’ve already made it to the bottom floor,” she said. “We need to hurry.”

She projected what they knew about the floor plan into everyone’s minds. 

“All we know about this place is what we’ve seen since we entered,” Lydia said, as Scott and Allison crossed the threshold of the door and ran into the office building. “The route we took to get where we are now was pretty convoluted, but retracing it might actually be the fastest way back out.”

Scott heard a short series of clicks behind him and turned around as Allison screamed angrily, “No!”

She ran back towards the door as a steel plate slammed down on the opposite side. After a few quick tugs on the glass door, she gave up, realizing it would only open the other way. She pushed it, but the steel door behind it prevented it from moving. The others started running towards them.

“Get behind me,” Scott said. 

Allison turned to see he had picked up the office chair from behind the receptionist’s desk. She quickly did as he asked, and he threw the chair, wheels first, into the glass panel above the crash bar. It shattered into hundreds of pieces, little bits of safety glass raining down and bouncing around the carpet like tiny ice cubes. Picking the chair up again, he rammed it into the bottom panel, which shattered the same way. By the time the others had arrived back in the lobby, he had bashed away the crash bar, which he was trying to use to pry up the steel plate from underneath.

“You’re gonna have to do this,” he said to Stiles as he entered the room. “You’re the only one strong enough.”

Stiles rushed to his side and grabbed the ruined mass of metal. “Stand back,” he said to everyone after quickly glancing it over.

The others took a step away from him, Derek watching Stiles’ actions intently as Allison looked worriedly down the hall. She could feel Kate’s presence getting closer, and she knew that wherever Kate was, the others would be with her. She couldn’t feel Peter and assumed he was still unconscious where Stiles had left him.

Stiles stood up, raised the crash bar above his head and threw it down as hard as he could at the bottom edge of the steel plate, more or less reducing the crash bar into its component parts.

“What are you doing?” Jackson asked.

“I need something thinner that I might be able to slip underneath the door,” Stiles answered, selecting a long flat piece of metal. “If I can just lift it up enough to get my fingers underneath, I think I can pull it up.”

“We need to hold them off while Stiles does this,” Scott said, picking up the remnants of the crash bar. Choosing one of the bigger pieces he could use like a club, he handed the rest of it to Jackson. 

Derek picked up the chair and set it upright. Stepping on one of the casters, he pulled up on the seat, grunting as he tried to separate the two. With a loud roar, he wrenched the seat off of the central column and tossed it aside. Grabbing the column like a handle, he lifted the base over his head with the wheels sticking up in the air. 

“This should work,” after giving it a few experimental swings. 

Allison was rummaging through the drawer at the receptionist’s desk. “I knew they’d have one of these,” she said, hefting the letter opener she found. The blade wasn’t very sharp, but it was almost as long as her hand. She gripped its heavy silver handle, trying to imagine how effective it would be as a weapon, knowing she was going to find out in a very short time.

Jackson looked at what was left of the crash bar, picked out the two largest pieces and let the rest of it drop to the floor. Lydia was giving them all continuous feedback on the location of the Kramonites, who were approaching quickly.

“This is a really small space,” Allison said, looking around the cramped lobby. “Can we fight in here?”

“We need more room,” John replied in agreement. “We have to make our stand in the main hallway where it intersects with another.”

“One of us should stay here, with Stiles,” Scott added, “in case one of them gets past us.”

“I’ll stay with him,” Jackson said, holding up the shards of the crash bar he had for weapons. “This is all I could find.”

Derek looked torn, but turned and ran down the hallway.

“We’ll try to make sure you won’t need to use those,” Allison said to Jackson, smiling grimly at him before running after Derek.

Scott nodded and followed after her.

Stiles had yet to make any headway in his goal of getting the piece of metal from the crash bar underneath the door. Jackson looked up just as the first wave of Kramonites entered the hall. There were several more on the top floor of the building, most of whom were now running towards the stairs.

Derek was in the middle of the intersection, facing the Kramonites as they emerged. Scott and Allison were hidden on either side of the intersecting hallway, waiting for their attackers to come into view. 

Kate and the four she brought with her came to a brief stop when they saw Derek, who seemed to be guarding the hallway by himself. 

“Get him,” Kate whispered, her eyes narrowing in anger.

The orderlies and the nurse rushed forward two by two, the width of the hall restricting their approach. Derek took a few steps forward, leaving Allison and Scott behind, swinging the wheeled base of the chair ahead of him like a battering ram as he went. The casters caught one of the orderlies in the chest, sending him backwards into the nurse behind him. One of the other orderlies threw himself at Derek with his arms outstretched, tackling Derek to the ground. 

The third orderly, seeing Jackson at the other end of the hall, jumped over their two entangled bodies only to fall to the ground when Scott clubbed him on the head. He quickly rolled over, looking to see where the blow had come from. Spotting Scott, he regained his feet and began to advance carefully, crouching slightly with his hands out in front of him, ready to react to whatever Scott might do. Eyes wide, Scott slowly backed further into the side hall, drawing the orderly towards him. He hoped the others would be able to deal with the rest.

Derek was struggling on the ground with the orderly that had tackled him, each of them trying to somehow get the upper hand. They were evenly matched; the orderly was at least as tall as Derek, and probably weighed as much, Derek’s enhanced strength mitigated by the otherworldly determination that the Kramonite-possessed humans seemed to have. The orderly managed to get Derek’s back pinned to the ground, but Derek’s outstretched arms were between them, preventing the orderly from completely gaining control of the situation. 

Seeing an opening, Allison rushed forward and stabbed the orderly in the shoulder with the letter opener. He yelled, twisting his body and letting go of Derek. His flailing threw Allison off-balance and she let go of the letter opener and fell backwards. The nurse, having gotten back on her feet, reached down and pulled the letter opener from the man’s shoulder, causing him to scream again. Derek used the distraction to punch the orderly in the face, but the angle prevented him from putting much force behind it, and it seemed to just make the man angrier. The orderly reached down, trying to get his hands around Derek’s throat, as Derek struggled to keep him away. 

Scott gripped his makeshift club tightly with both hands. He knew, logically, that he was faster and stronger than his opponent, but he had not yet quite gotten over the fact that under normal circumstances, the huge guy in front of him would probably be able to beat him to a pulp. The orderly kept feinting, forcing Scott to flinch and move the piece of shrapnel in the direction he thought the attack was coming from. Not wanting to give the orderly a chance to break through his defense, Scott went on the offensive and began swinging with his weapon. 

“Trust in what we know,” John said to him. “I’ve been around for a long time and I’ve trained in the martial arts of my world for most of my life. Your physiology may not be the same as the animals that we inhabited back home, but the principles of fighting never change. Trust your reflexes.”

Scott nodded and pressed his attack. He tried to maintain a careful balance between aggression and holding back. If the orderly presented him with some kind of opening, he would definitely take it, but he didn’t want to press forward so much that the man backed up into the main hallway again. 

Allison scuttled backwards as the nurse approached with the letter opener. Bracing herself against the wall, Allison stood up. She didn’t want to abandon her friends, but seeing no other option, she turned and ran down the hall. Like Scott, she figured the least she could do was lead one of their attackers away. 

There was a door on her left. Quickly grabbing the doorknob, she twisted, surprised to find it unlocked. She ducked inside, praying she would find something in there to defend herself with. The nurse was less than a second behind her. It was a conference room, with a huge cherry wood table in the center, surrounded by big, black leather chairs. She grabbed one. Knowing she didn’t have time to pull the same stunt that Derek did by ripping the seat off of the base, she lifted the entire thing over her head and turned to face the door. If she timed it right, she would only need one shot.

The nurse burst into the room, and Allison hurled the chair with as much force as she could muster at the unsuspecting woman. She didn’t even have time to register surprise on her face before the chair made impact, dropping her to the ground with the chair on top of her. Allison ran to her, shoved the chair out of the way, then picked the woman up by her armpits. Her eyelids were fluttering and Allison knew the woman would be pissed off and ready to fight again in a few seconds. As she turned, Allison heaved the woman towards the table. She half bounced, half skidded across its polished and slippery surface, falling over the edge and taking two more of the chairs with her.

Allison turned to the door, broke off the doorknob, then ran back out into the hall, slamming the door behind her. She grabbed the handle and pushed straight down, shearing it off, then she shoved it between the bottom of the door and the floor. It probably wouldn’t keep the nurse trapped for long, but she hoped it would be long enough.

She saw Kate run past in the main hall, holding the base of the chair that Derek had dropped. Jackson saw her coming and held up the pieces of the crash bar to defend himself. 

“I don’t know how you all got here,” Kate was yelling, “but I am going to make damn sure you never leave!”

Jackson risked a glance back at Stiles. He had managed to get his improvised crowbar under the steel plate. Using a smaller piece of the crash bar as a fulcrum, he was trying to pry it up far enough so that his fingers would fit in the space beneath. Jackson turned back to face Kate. She had the base of the chair raised over her head, which was now rapidly approaching _his_ head. He dropped the small pieces of metal he was holding and caught the base as it came down. Kate grunted in surprise and tried to pull it back, but Jackson wouldn’t let go. 

Behind him, Stiles screamed as he pulled up on the steel plate. The sound seemed to reenergize Kate, and she jerked the chair base backwards as she brought her foot up, kicking Jackson in the stomach. The air rushed out of his lungs and he let go, expecting the casters to come crashing down on his head. Instead, Kate dropped the base with a shriek as she stumbled forward, grasping the back of her head.

She turned to find Allison down the hall behind her. On the ground by Kate’s feet was the doorknob Allison had ripped off the door to trap the nurse. Kate lifted her hands from her head and they came away bloody. She yelled with rage and reached down to pick up the chair base, only to find it gone. Surprised she quickly looked at the ground and then behind her.

Jackson gritted his teeth and smashed the casters into her face, knocking her out. He looked up at Allison who turned and ran back the other way to help Scott and Derek. 

Scott feinted with his crash bar club, forcing the orderly to retreat back towards the main hall. Then he took a half-step back, drawing the orderly forward again. Allison took a quick read on Scott’s emotions. He was focused, confident and calm, and could probably keep the orderly preoccupied without any danger to himself for several minutes longer. It was pointedly different from the sharp jab of stress and frustration she felt suddenly emanate from Derek. She turned quickly to where he was still struggling on the ground with the orderly. The orderly had somehow managed to get his hands around Derek’s neck and was attempting to strangle him. Although Derek was keeping him too far away to really do any damage, Derek’s rising panic would eventually cause him to make a wrong move. Seeing nothing she could use as a weapon, she clasped her hands together and brought them down on the orderly’s back, near the base of his neck. He instantly collapsed on top of Derek, who immediately shoved the dead weight off of him.

Allison pointed towards the lobby. “Go help Stiles get that door open!” 

More of the Kramonites were making their way down the stairwell and would reach them at any moment. Derek ran back to the lobby as Allison turned towards the orderly fighting Scott. She kicked the back of the orderly’s knee, making him lose his balance. Scott took his club and bashed it on top of the man’s head, dropping him to the floor. Sure that he wasn’t going to be getting up any time soon, he leapt over the unmoving body, following Allison back towards the others. 

Taking a deep breath, Stiles braced himself and pulled. He had managed to lift the steel plate about five inches, but whatever mechanism was keeping it in place was forcing him to work for every inch. Derek rushed to his side, grabbed the bottom of the door and began to pull up with Stiles. With agonizing slowness, the steel plate continued to rise. Scott and Allison entered the lobby and watched helplessly with Jackson; there was no room for anyone else to help. The Kramonites continued to draw closer as Derek and Stiles valiantly tried to remove the steel obstacle that was preventing their escape. After a few more seconds, it was high enough that someone crawling on their stomach could make their way out.

“Derek,” Stiles thought cast, the physical exertion not allowing him to speak normally. “I’m gonna be speeding myself up in a second. I’m gonna let go of this, but you won’t even know it’s happening, I promise, okay?”

Derek nodded almost imperceptibly as he strained against the door. Stiles’ energy reserves were running dangerously low, but it was now or never.

“All right, Isaac,” he said. “Give me what you got.”

It happened slower than he was used to, probably because both he and Isaac were practically spent, but as before, time seemed to come to a crawl and then there was no movement whatsoever. He glanced to his side where Derek was frozen, holding up the steel plate with a grimace on his face. Knowing he needed to hurry, he sat down and stuck his feet through the opening to the outside. He quickly shimmied through until he was almost all of the way out, stopping when his shoulders were directly beneath the bottom edge of the steel plate and he was able to get a good grip on it. He tried to ignore the bits of glass biting into his back. Not wanting to waste any energy, Isaac immediately slowed him back down to normal speed.

He heard his three friends gasp behind him when he seemingly went from one position to another in a fraction of a second. They knew what he was capable of, but had not yet seen it with their own eyes until that moment. Even though he had warned Derek about what he was going to do, it still caught him by surprise. Had Stiles not been there to hold up the door, it probably would have made it most of the way back down before Derek would have been able to stop it, assuming he could have stopped it at all.

“They’ve made it to the ground floor!” Lydia exclaimed. “We need to get out of here now!”

“You all heard her!” Stiles replied. “I’ll keep this open; all of you get out, then pull me through.”

At first Derek seemed worried about releasing the steel plate, but remembering that Stiles was much stronger than him now, he let go of it and squeezed through the hole with a speed that belied his size. One by one, the others got through, Lydia tracking the movement of the Kramonites the entire time. Stiles tilted his head back to watch as the first ones rounded the corner into the main hall. Jackson had just made it through, leaving only Scott.

“Hurry!” Stiles yelled. 

Scott dove through the opening, and as soon as he was out of the way, Derek grabbed hold of Stiles’ ankles and yanked him backwards. Letting go of the steel plate at the same exact moment, Stiles watched as it slammed back down, trapping the Kramonites inside. Derek quickly helped Stiles to his feet and they all began to run.

“Where are we going?” asked Erica.

“I know it’s the first place they’re gonna look, but we need to go back to the apartments,” Scott answered. “We need to take care of Violet and the professor.”

“What are we gonna do with them?” Lydia asked.

Scott shook his head in frustration, not knowing how they were going to handle their two captives. They would have to figure that out later. Right now, all they needed to do was run.


	26. Nothing to See Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang is in full blown escape mode now, and they can practically feel the Kramonites’ breath on the back on their necks

Lydia continued to watch what was happening in the office building as they ran the first few blocks, borrowing power from Stiles and Isaac to extend her ability as they drew further away. The Kramonites had yet to get the door opened when she reached the limit of her ability. 

“It’s kind of strange, isn’t it?” Erica asked. “You would think if they designed the building, they would know how to open the door.”

Lydia did a quick calculation. At their rate of travel, it would take them about five more minutes to get back to the apartment. It was more than enough time for the Kramonite superiors to warn those that that might still be keeping watch there. 

“I don’t think I need to remind you of the danger we face right now,” John said. “Jackson, Lydia, don’t let your guard down. Stiles, Isaac, give them as much power as you can so they can maintain as wide a perimeter around us as possible.”

They directed their energy as John suggested, but also made sure to give a little bit to Derek and Melissa. If either of them were able to give even the slightest warning, it could be invaluable.

As people began to notice their group running down the streets, John and Scott began to emit the suggestion that their small group did not merit special attention. To the people they passed by, they were simply a small group of friends out for a jog, nothing more and nothing less. The less attention they drew, the better. For all they knew, there were Kramonites patrolling the streets.

Lydia noticed how John was beginning to accept his role as more of an equal among them, and was proud that someone as set in his ways as he was could change when necessity demanded it. If they were going to survive, they would all have to rise to the occasion. The Kramonites, given their numbers, were more than a match for them. On top of that, the Kramonites had all but declared war. There had been too many narrow escapes over the last few days, too many for Lydia’s comfort. Even one narrow escape was too much. If they were to have any hope of living much longer, they were going to have to be more careful and would have to stop relying on sheer luck and willpower.

“We’re getting close, “ Allison said. “What are we doing, just running in?”

Scott nodded. “I think that’s our only option. The only advantage we have right now is speed; if any of them are still around, hopefully we can catch them off-guard. We don’t have time to think of anything tricky and I don’t want to risk splitting the group again.”

“We need to make a left here,” Derek said suddenly as he veered. “There’s a car full of them heading towards us from the apartment.”

“What are they doing here?” asked Lydia.

“Kate called them when they realized we were all at the office building,” Melissa answered. 

“So, the apartment’s unguarded?” Allison asked.

“No,” Derek replied. “They left one behind at the bottom of the stairwell.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Stiles said, matter-of-factly.

The building was less than a block away, and they grew silent as it came into view. Keeping a tight formation, they barely slowed down to go through the front door. The run back to the apartment building had not been nearly long enough for Isaac and Stiles to regain their strength, especially since they had been lending power to the others, but Stiles wasn’t going to need much to dispatch the lone Kramonite standing in their way.

“All right, Isaac,” he said, “pour on the juice.”

Stiles didn’t slow as everything around him seemed to come to a stop. He opened the door to the stairwell and found a man standing there, a man he did not recognize. The man’s face betrayed no emotion, like so many of the others they had encountered, and he would never get the chance to register Stiles’ presence before Stiles took care of him.

“Sorry, dude,” Stiles said as he punched the man in the face. 

Isaac brought Stiles back into the normal flow of time as his fist made contact, and the man flew backwards and crumpled to the ground. Stiles’ friends barreled through the door a split second later.

“I guess that’s that,” Derek commented, picking up the pace again after he was sure there wasn’t going to be a problem.

The others quickly followed, confident that Derek’s premonition meant, for the time being, that they were relatively safe. Scott took the lead and burst through the door of the apartment they had been using, going directly to the closet where he had put the professor. They all watched as he opened the door. The closet was empty.

“Damn it!” he exclaimed, slamming it shut.

Allison ran past him to the back room where she had stowed Violet. Knowing the room would be empty, she opened the door anyway just to make sure. As she suspected, Violet was not there.

Scott was fuming when Allison rejoined the group. “We should have killed them when we had the chance,” he said to no one in particular.

Allison frowned. “Can we not talk about this now?” she asked. “Let’s just get our things and go before they find us.”

Derek was kneeling by their pile of stuff, which was thankfully left untouched by whoever had taken Violet and Gerard. He tossed various items to each of them, distributing them as evenly as he could, rising to his feet as he pulled the straps of the last backpack over his broad shoulders.

“That’s everything,” he said as he adjusted the straps. “Let’s get out of here.”

He bolted from the room without waiting for a response. 

“We need to go,” Melissa stated. “The ones that we passed in the car, they’ve turned around and they’re on their way back.”

Stiles ran out the door and the rest followed. Lydia projected her consciousness towards the car to see if she could track its progress.

“I can’t get a read on them,” she said with disgust. “They must be some of those lower level drones.” 

“We have a little time,” Melissa said. “They’re still a few blocks away.”

Derek burst through the front doors of the apartment building, quickly looked around, and ran straight ahead towards the house across the street. The others followed, not sure of his plan. Derek reached under the flowerpot on the windowsill, grabbing the key he knew would be underneath. 

“What are you doing?” Stiles hissed as Derek inserted the key into the front door.

“Don’t worry,” Derek replied, “nobody’s home.”

He opened the door and closed it after his friends filed in. It was dim, but there was more than enough light for them to see.

“Stay away from the windows,” Derek instructed as he started closing the blinds.

They all froze when they heard the car pull up. Derek peeked through the blinds as three people got out of the car and ran into the apartment.

“What are we gonna do?” asked Jackson.

“We should be safe here,” Derek said. “Once they realize the apartment is empty, they should leave.”

“Are you still not getting anything?” Scott asked Lydia and Jackson.

“Nothing,” Jackson answered. “They probably haven’t been in those bodies long enough.”

The tension was almost more than Allison could bear. “Are you sure it’s safe in here?” she asked Derek. “What if the people that live here come back?”

“I have no idea when they’ll be back,” Derek replied. “I just knew no one would be here right now. Worst case scenario, we can leave out the back and hope the Kramonites don’t notice.”

Allison squinted through a crack in the blinds to watch the front of the apartment building. Another car pulled up. 

“Oh crap!” she exclaimed. “It’s Kate!”

Jackson, Scott, and Stiles joined them at the windows, and watched as Kate emerged from the passenger side. She seemed to be directing the two that were with her into the building. She crossed her arms and intently watched the apartment entrance. After a while, she gave the area around her a cursory glance, her eyes passing over the house where they were hiding without giving it any kind of special consideration.

Allison realized she had been holding her breath and let it out.

Kate reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone. She flipped it open and held it to her ear. Although she was beyond the range of their hearing, it was obvious she was talking to someone and not just listening to her voicemail. She nodded, shrugged, then made a frustrated gesture with her left hand. After a curt nod, she brought the phone in front of her to look at the screen, then brought it back to her ear and seemed to be waiting for someone to pick up. When the person she was calling answered, she shook her head and motioned with her free hand as if she were telling someone to approach her. Then, she flipped the phone closed and put it back into her pocket, opening the passenger door of the car in order to sit down. 

About a minute later, three people emerged from the building, two of them carrying a fourth person between them, the man Stiles had knocked out. They put the unconscious man in the back seat of the car that Kate was sitting in and then one of them got into the driver’s seat. The other two went into the first car, and then both cars drove away.

“They left two people behind,” Lydia commented. “We’re gonna have to go out the back after all.”

“Do you think we might be able to wait until after dark?” Allison asked. “If anyone sees us jumping over fences, that’s gonna be really suspicious.”

“Yeah,” Stiles added. “The last thing we need is to get the cops involved.”

“I don’t think we should stay here too long, especially with two of them just hanging out across the street,” Scott said. “John and I can broadcast something innocuous that’ll prevent people from looking out of their windows while we make our escape. Stiles, Isaac, are you rested enough to give us a boost?”

“We should be fine,” Isaac answered as Stiles nodded. 

“What kind of suggestion were you thinking about?” Lydia asked.

“Nothing special, something along the lines of, ‘I really need to check my email right now?’” Scott said.

“Should be easy enough,” replied John.

Derek locked the front door and put the key on the hutch beside it. He led them through the house to the kitchen, where there was a door that led to the back. Allison went out first. The backyard was well kept and very green, enclosed by a high brick wall. 

“Go ahead, Scott, John,” Lydia said. “We need to get over this wall.”

Scott felt Isaac’s power surging through him and he began projecting the suggestion, sending over a dozen people scurrying to their computers. John made sure no one was looking out of their windows.

“We can go,” he said. “No one’s watching.”

Scott ran towards the wall and jumped as he grabbed the top, vaulting over. Allison did the same and landed in time to see Scott darting down the narrow walkway along the house leading to the street. She heard the others landing behind her as she ran to follow. Scott was waiting for them at the gate to the front yard. He looked back at them.

“Ready?” he asked.

Jackson nodded. Scott pushed the gate open and led them out onto the lawn, and they hurried to the quiet street. In a few hours, people would be coming home from work.

“We need to get out of town, where no one will recognize us,” Scott said. “How much money do we have left?”

“About two-hundred dollars,” Stiles answered.

“That’s not gonna be enough,” Scott replied. “We need to get some cash.”

“I made sure to grab some things we could sell,” Stiles replied. “We just need a pawnshop or something.”

“There’s a pawnshop on the other side of town,” Jackson said.

Scott nodded and quickened his stride to a jog. “Let’s go. We’ll keep broadcasting the suggestion that people need to check their email. The less people that notice us, the better.” 

They jogged in silence for a while. 

“So, this is it,” Allison commented. “This is where we disappear.”

“Try not to think about it,” Scott replied, grabbing her hand. “We’ll figure everything out once we’re safe.”

“It’ll take us over an hour to get there at this rate,” Lydia commented. “We need something faster. There’s a bus stop two blocks north of here. We should get there at just about the same time as the next bus.”

“How do you know that?” asked Allison.

“Jackson took the bus from there once,” Lydia replied. “He looked at the schedule.”

Jackson scowled. “I should have thought of that.”

“Using your gifts will come more naturally with time,” Melissa said. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll help you learn how to use them.”

“If we live that long,” Jackson replied.

Scott pulled a beanie out of the backpack he was carrying and handed it to Allison. “Here,” he said, “put this on. You can hide your hair under it and wear that bulky jacket. Hopefully there won’t be anyone on the bus that might recognize us.”

“The disguise is a good idea,” said John, “but hopefully we won’t need it.”

As Lydia predicted, they arrived at the bus stop at the same time as the bus. The doors to the bus opened and a dark-skinned, heavyset woman in a bus driver’s uniform came into view, smiling at them. Stiles got on first and paid for the rest of them as they found their seats. Luckily, there were only five other people on the bus, all of whom seemed extremely disinterested in their fellow passengers. John worked to reinforce that predisposition.

“How long ‘til we get off?” asked Allison.

“About twenty minutes,” Jackson answered. “Six stops.”

“All right,” Stiles said as he looked around the bus. “We are safe in here, right?”

“We should be fine,” Derek answered, putting his arm around Stiles’ shoulders. “If we read that spreadsheet correctly, there’s only eighteen of them in town. They can’t be everywhere.”

“Don’t forget about the one that Stiles killed,” Erica interjected, “or the one he knocked out at the apartments. That means there’s only sixteen of them that can be looking for us right now.”

“Let’s hope so,” Scott said. 

The bus stopped to let an elderly woman off. They sat quietly as the door groaned and closed before the bus continued on its way. 

“Five more stops,” Lydia commented.

Allison laid her head on Scott’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about Violet and the professor,” she said. “But, I didn’t know what else to do.”

Scott frowned, closed his eyes, and lowered his head. “Don’t worry about it,” he said with a sigh. He put his hand on top of hers. “You were only doing what you thought was right,” he said, smiling and turning his head to look at her.

Smiling back, she leaned forward to kiss him. The bus came to a stop suddenly, jerking them forward.

“What’s going on?” Allison asked.

“The police have the road blocked up ahead,” the bus driver answered. “Everyone, please stay seated,” she continued as she picked up the microphone on her CB radio and clicked the button on the side. “Dispatch, this is Danielle. It looks like the police have my route blocked off. Do you know what’s going on? Over.”

“Hi, sweetie,” a female voice crackled back over the line. “We were told there was a bank robbery in the area. They set-up the roadblocks to try to catch whoever did it. We’ve been instructed to not let anyone off of the buses before any of the checkpoints. Over.”

“Thanks, Heather, over,” Danielle said, before put the microphone back in its holster and snapping her gum. “Don’t worry, folks,” she said, assessing the short line of cars between the bus and the police. “We’ll get through this in a jiff and we’ll be on our way.”

“They’re looking for us,” Allison thought cast, sounding panicked.

“We don’t know that,” Scott replied. “Derek, Melissa, are you picking up anything?”

Derek shook his head. “I’m not getting anything either way,” he said.

“Damn it!” Scott said, hitting the top of his thigh with his fist. “What are we gonna do?” He looked up at Jackson. “Can you get a read on those cops? Are they Kramonites?”

Jackson closed his eyes and concentrated. “They’re just people,” he said. “Normal cops. They’re not possessed.”

“Their orders are coming from the police station,” Lydia said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few Kramonites over there.”

Stiles looked at the doors in the mid-section of the bus. “If we had to, we could break out of here pretty easily,” he said, “but that would draw a lot of attention.”

The bus moved a few car lengths forward. There were now only three cars between them and the police.

“I don’t see what choice we have,” Scott said. “If they’re looking for us, then they’ll have our descriptions. If they catch us here, it’s over.”

“Then, we have to make sure they don’t recognize us,” John said.

“I’m on it,” Stiles said, moving forward one seat to sit behind Scott.

The bus moved forward leaving only one car between them and the roadblock. Stiles put his hand on Scott’s shoulder and began giving him every bit of energy he could muster. Working in concert, Scott and Jackson reached out with their minds to the two cops that were inspecting the cars. The bus pulled up and Danielle opened the door.

“Good afternoon, officer,” she said with a smile. “How can I help you?”

“Afternoon, ma’am,” the officer replied. “We need to inspect the passengers on this bus.”

“Well, all right then,” she said, gesturing for them to get on. 

Scott watched as the two police officers entered the bus and began doing a head count.

“How many passengers should you have right now?” the first officer asked.

“There should be nine of them,” she answered, craning her neck. “It doesn’t look like any of them are hiding.”

The officer nodded and began making his way through the bus towards the back. When he got to their section, he saw a middle-aged man with closely cropped blonde hair sitting next to a teenage girl with curly blonde tresses, a tall blonde teenage boy sitting behind them, and a Hispanic woman and a teenage girl with strawberry blonde hair, each sitting by themselves. His eyes narrowed when he looked at Isaac, but John sent a jolt of a suggestion to him to make him think he was much taller than the young man they were looking for, realizing he had been projecting an image that could superficially fit a description of Jackson.

“Sorry for the inconvenience, folks,” he said apologetically as he turned around and walked back down the aisle towards the front. “None of these people match the descriptions they gave us,” he said to the other police officer.

His partner nodded and hopped off the bus and the first officer tipped his hat to Danielle.

“Afternoon,” he said.

Danielle winked at him as he exited the bus, then she pulled the lever to close the door. Two other police officers waved the bus through the checkpoint. Stiles got up and sat back down next to Derek, who let out a huge sigh of relief.

“That was close,” he said.

Scott nodded. “To close. But, as long as they concentrate on the area back there, they won’t be looking for us outside of it.”

Stiles looked out the window, and Derek put his arm around him. 

“Don’t worry,” Lydia said. “We’re almost there.”

Stiles nodded, not wanting to use any energy to speak. The bus stopped again and a Middle Eastern woman got off with her two children. Afterwards, a young African-American man wearing a pair of large headphones got on. Danielle closed the doors and the bus continued on its route.

“Four more stops,” Jackson said.


	27. Exodus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With no other options left open for them, the gang decides they need to leave town.

The bus dropped them off almost directly across the street from the pawnshop. It was a small place with a green awning and neon lights in the windows. 

“Who’s going in?” Allison asked.

“John and I will be able to get the most money for our stuff,” Scott said. “The rest of you should probably wait out here. The owner might get the wrong idea if we all go in there together.” He squinted and turned to the others. “So, what are we selling?”

Stiles started going through the bags and pulling out various items. “This is the camera my dad got me for my birthday last month,” he said, handing it to Scott. “I haven’t even used it yet.” He seemed sad as he said it, but quickly shook it off. “My iPod,” then he hesitated. Sighing, he took everything else out of his messenger bag besides the computer and handed it to Scott, saying, “I guess I don’t really need this right now.” 

“There’s Allison’s stuff too,” he said, taking the backpack he was wearing off of his shoulders. “But, that’s up to her,” he said as he handed the backpack over to her.

 

She took it from him and unzipped it. Pulling out the computer and holding it out for Scott to take, she said, “I guess I don’t need this anymore, either.” She started digging through the bag, seeing all of the jewelry Stiles had tossed in there. “Most of this is worthless,” she said, squinting at the contents of the backpack.

Suddenly, she stopped moving her hand around. “Oh,” she said softly in surprise. “You found it.” Pulling the small black velvet box out, she slowly lowered the backpack to the floor. She opened it and the diamond earrings inside caught the sunlight and sparkled like little stars. Blinking a few times to fight back the surge of emotion welling up inside of her, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly through pursed lips, a single tear falling down her check.

“My parents gave these to me for my sixteenth birthday,” she explained. “I’ve only worn them a few times; I always thought they were too fancy.”

Scott put his hand on her back. “We don’t have to sell them if you don’t want to,” he said.

She shook her head and closed the box, wiping away her tears with her free hand. “No, no, it’s okay,” she replied. “They’re just earrings. Besides, we need the money.”

“Isn’t it gonna look suspicious if Scott just walks in there with all this stuff to sell?” Derek asked. “It’s gonna look like he stole it.”

“Don’t worry,” John replied. “I’ll make sure nothing goes wrong.”

“Here,” Allison said, holding the earrings out for Scott. “Take them.”

“Are you sure?” Scott asked.

Allison nodded grimly. Scott held out the messenger bag, where he had put everything else and Allison dropped the velvet box inside. Slinging the strap of the bag over his shoulder, Scott walked across the street towards the store. The others sat down at the bus stop to wait.

The top of the glass door hit a small bell when Scott pushed it open. It was dark inside, the glass cases filled with all manner of items for sale. The owner emerged from the back at the sound of the bell. Scott could hear a television talk show coming from what must have been the man’s office. The owner looked like he was in his mid-forties, about Scott’s height with stringy black hair that was thinning on the top. The man’s clothes looked a little worn, but clean, his rotund belly straining the buttons on his long-sleeved pale blue shirt. 

“What do you think?” Scott thought cast to Lydia.

Lydia skirted around the edges of the man’s mind, picking up stray thoughts. He was tired and sales had been slow that week. He had been in the business long enough to know when someone was trouble, and he had already determined that Scott was exactly the kind of trouble he didn’t necessarily want to deal with. Still, it all depended on the quality if the items the person was trying to sell. It wasn’t that he was a bad man, but he had a wife and two kids to take care of, and if he could plausibly deny that he knowingly participated in any wrongdoing, then he was willing to accept the risk.

“He’s a little suspicious, but it’s nothing we can’t work around,” Lydia answered. 

John sent out a suggesting regarding Scott’s trustworthiness and added a little bit of pity emphasized by the current state of Scott’s clothes.

“We should make up some kind of story,” John suggested, “to explain why we have so much stuff to sell.”

Scott nodded at the man and approached the counter. “Good afternoon, sir,” he said. “I have some things that I’d like to sell.”

The man’s eyes tracked the messenger bag as Scott lifted it onto the counter.

“Whaddya got?” he asked.

“My mom,” Scott began, drawing on his experience from the improvisation class he took on a lark last spring, “she’s sick, and my dad lost his job.”

“Is he buying any of this?” John asked Erica.

“You’re doing fine,” Erica replied. “He’s not nervous at all. I don’t know if he thinks the story is true, but he feels really bad that Scott has to sell all of this stuff, whatever the reason. He should give you a good price for all of it.”

“I’m supposed to take my mom to the hospital tomorrow, but we can’t afford it,” he said as he pulled out the two laptops and placed them on the counter. “These are my family’s,” he explained, placing the camera and the iPod next to the computers. “My dad told me to bring them here so we could have some money for tomorrow. He’s looking for a job, now.” Scott placed the velvet box on top of the computers.

“What’s this?” the man asked, picking up the box and opening it.

“Those are my sister’s,” Scott replied, “my parents gave them to her when she graduated high school. She loves them, but she wanted to sell them for our mom.”

The man pulled a jeweler’s magnifying glass out of his pocket and held it up to his eye to examine one of the earrings. He nodded and then inspected the other.

“Those are some nice diamonds, there,” he said, putting them back into the box and closing it. He glanced at the rest of the items on the counter. “I’m assuming those computers work?” he asked.

“Yup,” Scott said, nodding vigorously.

“I hope you saved whatever data you need from them, ‘cuz I’m wiping the memory as soon as you walk out that door,” he warned.

“Yeah,” Scott lied. “We did.”

John sent the suggestion that his sales might have been low because of the low quality of the items he currently had in the store, along with another suggestion that the items on the counter would probably sell quickly. She added another suggestion that he be a good Samaritan and give Scott as much money as would be reasonable.

“What about the bag?” the man asked.

Scott looked at the bag in surprise. “You want to buy the bag?”

“It’s a nice bag,” the man answered, “and, you probably don’t need it anymore since you’re selling your computer.”

Scott nodded. “You’re right, I don’t need it anymore. I can sell that, too.”

The man rubbed the stubble on his chin for a while. “I’ll give you fifteen-hundred for the lot.”

“Is that good?” Scott asked, thought casting to his friends.

“It’s not horrible,” Derek answered. “We could probably get a little more if we sold everything online, but we don’t have time for that. Go ahead and accept it.”

“That’s fine,” Scott said out loud. “Thank you very much.”

The man pulled out a form from underneath the counter behind him and handed it to Scott along with a pen. 

“What’s this?” Scott asked.

“It’s standard,” the man replied. “You just have to put your contact information on there, verify that you’re the owner of the merchandise, you know, that it’s not stolen.”

“Oh, sure,” Scott said as he looked at the form.

“I’ll be right back with your check,” the man said. 

“Check?” Scott asked, lifting his head.

“Yeah, I don’t keep that kind of money in the store,” the man replied. “If you need cash right away, my bank is just a block away. Just head to the left when you leave. They’ll cash it for you there.”

“Okay,” Scott responded, and he bent his head back down over the form.

“Don’t put any of your actual information on that!” Lydia warned as Scott put the tip of the pen on the line for his first name.

“Oh, right,” he said, pausing to think for a moment.

“What’s your name, kid?” the man yelled from the back.

“Julio!” Scott answered. “Julio Diaz!” 

Scott wrote the name down on the form and then made up a phone number. He was listing the items he was selling when the dot matrix printer started up in the owner’s office. He reappeared moments later with a printed check for $1,500 made out to Julio Diaz and handed it to Scott.

“Here you go, Julio,” the man said.

Scott took the check, and then held out his hand. “Thank you,” he said, as the man shook his hand. “What is your name?”

“Steve,” the man answered. “I hope your mother gets better.”

Scott nodded and shook the man’s hand again. “Thank you.”

He left the store and joined the others at the bus stop.

“Now what?” asked Jackson. 

“One more stop and we can go to the bus station,” Scott answered.

“I hope you can convince the teller to cash the check,” Jackson said. “They’re going to ask for I.D.”

“No they won’t,” John replied, smugly. “I’m sure Steve normally asks for I.D. when he buys, but I made sure he forgot to this time.”

“Well,” Melissa said, “I guess that takes care of that.”

They walked down the street to the bank where Scott was able to cash the check without any difficulties.

“The fastest way to the bus station is to take the bus, right?” he asked as he emerged from the bank.

“Yes,” Lydia said. “A bus will be arriving at the bus stop where we were dropped off in about ten minutes.”

The walk back to the bus stop was uneventful, as was their wait for the bus. None of them spoke, somehow knowing that words alone were insufficient in the face of what they had seen and done over the last few days. Allison grabbed Scott’s hand as the bus approached. He gently pulled her closer and then kissed the top of her head. The bus stopped, the doors opened, and they all got on, Stiles getting on first to pay their fares. Because it was later in the day, there were more people on the bus this time, but there was still plenty of room.

They made their way towards the middle so they could be near the doors there. Derek sat down, and Stiles sat down next to him, drooping his head against Derek’s shoulder. Derek looked down and took Stiles’ long fingers into his own, marveling at their hidden strength. Before the bond, he would have never thought it possible that such a hand would be capable of so much violence and destruction. He knew _Stiles_ would have never imagined it. But, Stiles had done it for them. To protect them. 

Derek rested his head on top of Stiles’. “I love you,” he whispered into Stiles’ wild brown hair.

Stiles didn’t respond, but Derek could feel Stiles smile against his shoulder as Stiles snuggled in closer.

Scott could feel the wad of cash in his pocket. It wasn’t the first time in his life he had carried so much money on his person, but it was definitely the first time it had been so important. Normally it would have made him nervous, but he wasn’t the same person that he was two weeks ago. He was more than capable now of defending himself against a common thief, and he was not alone. Looking at his four friends sitting nearby, he assessed their relative strength. Against a group of normal human beings, he knew they wouldn’t have a problem. Against a worldwide alien invasion? He wasn’t so sure.

“You’re thinking awfully loud,” Lydia commented humorously.

“Oh!” Scott replied in surprise. “Sorry, I didn’t realize…” he trailed off. “Did the others…?”

“No,” Lydia answered. “I made sure none of it got out.’

“Thanks,” Scott said with a smile, though he knew at the very least that Jackson had heard it all. “So, what do you think of all of this? We’re leaving the town you’ve lived in for over fifty years.”

“Truthfully,” she began, “I’m glad to be rid of it. Except for the first couple of days, we never left that house. It’s too bad we have to leave under these conditions, but it’s not like we developed any kind of attachment to the town since we never really got to see any of it.” She paused. “I wonder sometimes about some of the kids that passed through that house, though. It wasn’t always boys, you know. It started out as housing specifically for boys, when the school first started accepting men. But, some years it was boys, and other years it was girls. There were so many of them, boys and girls, over the years. We never really knew what happened to any of them after they moved out.”

“That must have been such a strange life,” Scott commented. “You were always watching and none of those people knew you were there.”

Lydia sighed. “Honestly, I spent most of the time sleeping. Fifty years is a long time to do nothing, even for us. I think I missed most of it. Erica was the only one that stayed awake the whole time. She was always waiting.” Lydia laughed a little. “It looks like she was waiting for the five of you all this time. We all were.”

Scott smiled, feeling the rumble of the bus under him. A few moments passed before he spoke again. “I never could‘ve imagined a life like this,” he said soberly. “It’s amazing, this gift you’ve given us, but I’ve almost died so many times over the last few days. I never thought that I could be responsible for the future of the world, for everybody living on the planet.”

Lydia had no answer for him and so said nothing. Because she was connected to him through her gift, Scott could feel her compassion. And, that was enough. 

The bus eventually made its way to the bus station and they got off, heading directly to one of the ticket windows.

“Where are we going?” asked Allison.

Scott shrugged. “I don’t know, but we have enough money; we could basically go anywhere we want. Anyone have any suggestions?”

Stiles looked at their options. “I’ve always wanted to go to California,” he said. “I’ve never seen the ocean before.”

“It’s nice,” Scott said. “My grandmother lives in San Diego. My family usually goes there for Christmas.”

“Anyone have any objections to California?” Allison asked.

Derek and Jackson shook their heads.

“Well, then I guess we’re going to California,” Scott said definitively. “Do we want to go to San Diego?”

“That might not be a bad idea,” Derek said. “You know your way around there, right?”

Scott nodded. “There’s a bus going to San Diego, but it doesn’t leave for a few hours.”

“I don’t like the idea of hanging around here for a few hours,” Lydia commented. “The longer stay here, the more we risk being found.”

“Me either,” John said. “Maybe we should just get on the next bus that leaves, no matter of where it’s going.”

“Yeah,” Jackson said, “we need to get outta here.”

“Look,” Allison said, “There’s a bus leaving for Phoenix in twenty minutes.”

“I’ll go see if there’s any seats left,” Scott said, heading towards the window.

He smiled at the woman there. “Hello,” he said, “I’d like to get five tickets for Phoenix.”

The woman typed something into her computer. “I’m sorry,” she said, “that bus is full.” She typed something else. “There’s another bus going to Phoenix Tuesday morning. You want tickets for that one?”

Scott shook his head. “No thanks. What is the next bus leaving that has five seats available?”

“Where you goin’?” she asked.

“Anywhere,” he said.

She gave him a look, but decided not to ask any questions. “Do you want the seats to be together?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Scott said.

He looked behind him at his friends while the woman searched for seats. They were watching the other people at the bus station, looking for anything suspicious. 

“The next bus with five open seats leaves in six minutes,” she said.

“Where’s it going?” Scott asked.

“Milwaukee,” the woman said, her answer almost sounding like a challenge.

“That’s fine,” Scott said.

He turned to the others after he paid for the tickets. “We have to go. The bus is leaving soon, and it’s leaving from the other end of the station.”

They walked to the bus, trying not to draw any attention to themselves. Scott gave each of them a ticket as they walked. He got onto the bus first, followed by Derek, Stiles and Jackson. Allison got onto the first step, then paused and looked behind her at the people milling around the station. There were no Kramonites there; if there had been, they would have already moved to stop the five of them. They were just people, ordinary people unaware of the cosmic drama that was unfolding all around them. 

The bus doors closed and Allison took her seat next to Scott. He had left the window seat open for her. She continued to watch the people outside as the bus pulled away, wondering about who they were and what their lives were like, hoping against hope that they would never have to know about the danger they were in. Erica’s presence gave her a small measure of comfort, seated as it was deep within her psyche, and Allison was glad that she and the boys were not the only one’s invested in the fight to save humanity.

She grabbed Scott’s hand. He turned to look at her and tried to give her a reassuring smile, but she could feel the apprehension coloring the edges of his bravado, like sun flares around the edges of the moon during a solar eclipse. She smiled back, amused that he could still forget that he could no longer hide his emotions form her. Still, she appreciated the effort.

Turning back to the people outside, she saw a little girl in a puffy lilac jacket. She was running towards a woman, probably her mother, who scooped her up and hugged her as they laughed. Allison put her hand on the window, imagining she could touch them. She could feel their joy, their pure happiness, even as the bus began to pull away. Closing her eyes, she leaned into Scott and sighed sadly. He put his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. 

The sounds of the bus were reassuring. It reminded her of when she used to take the bus to school when she was little. Milwaukee was far; it would probably take a few days to get there. Her mind should have been racing, but she was suddenly exhausted. Picking up on a light touch of humor coming from John, she recognized the suggestion to sleep.

“Rest,” Lydia said. “Jackson and I will take the first watch.”

Scott’s breathing became steady next to her and she could feel herself drifting off. She didn’t fight it. As the world slipped away around her, she thought about the little girl and her mother. Without stopping to think about how she was going to keep it, she made them a promise they would never hear. They were happy. They were so happy. And, she promised that she would do everything in her power to make sure they stayed that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's the end of part one of Second Self! Thank you everyone who stuck with me on this journey! There is a part two coming, which I will preview over the next few weeks, but it's not done yet, and I can't make any guarantees about how long it will take me to write it. This story is important to me, so I'm not going to abandon it.
> 
> Please let me know what you think of the story so far, and come say hi to me on tumblr! (http://disseria.tumblr.com)
> 
> If you're a Strekkie and you liked this fic, I have lots more Sterek for you to read!

**Author's Note:**

> A new chapter every week!


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